Safety Effects of Horizontal Curve Design and Lane and Shoulder Width on Single Motorcycle Accidents in Norway

Factors related to the road infrastructure contribute to the occurrence of motorcycle accidents. This study investigates how design parameters of the existing rural two-lane road network in Norway influence the occurrence of single motorcycle accidents. The design elements considered in this study are horizontal curvature (curve type, degree of curvature, and adjacent curve requirements) and lane and shoulder widths. A matched case-control study design was applied to investigate the safety effects of these elements. Cases were defined as segments experiencing at least one single motorcycle accident during the study period from 2013 to 2017, while controls were defined as segments not experiencing an accident in the same period. In order to identify the segments, a GIS analysis was performed on data collected from the National Road Database (NVDB). In case-control studies, matching allows us to control for confounding variables. AADT and speed limit were used as matching variables in this study. A matching ratio of 4 : 1 (i.e., four controls per case) was used, resulting in 752 controls being matched to 188 cases. The results indicate horizontal alignment to have a more significant effect on single motorcycle accidents compared to lane and shoulder widths. Segments with several adjacent reverse curves, with high curvature (R < 200 m), have high odds for an accident. Further, if the requirements for adjacent curves are not fulfilled (i.e., considerable variation in adjacent curve radii), the odds increase even more. While the results are not statistically significant, trends seen indicate that wider lanes were associated with increased odds for an accident, while wider shoulders were associated with decreased odds. In comparison with a similar study considering passenger vehicles, the results of this study also indicate that horizontal alignment has a greater effect on single motorcycle accidents than on passenger vehicle accidents.

[1]  George Yannis,et al.  Overview of critical risk factors in Power-Two-Wheeler safety. , 2012, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[2]  Dalibor Pešić,et al.  The relationship between the travelling speed and motorcycle styles in urban settings: a case study in Belgrade. , 2015, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[3]  Deogratias Eustace,et al.  Identification of Risk Factors Associated with Motorcycle-Related Fatalities in Ohio , 2011 .

[4]  R. Elvik.  The more (sharp) curves, the lower the risk. , 2019, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[5]  Rune Elvik,et al.  International transferability of accident modification functions for horizontal curves. , 2013, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[6]  Aaas News,et al.  Book Reviews , 1893, Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal.

[7]  P. Jovanis,et al.  Estimation of Safety Effectiveness of Changes in Shoulder Width with Case Control and Cohort Methods , 2007 .

[8]  W. Marsden.  I and J , 2012 .

[9]  Alexander Maistros,et al.  A comparison of contributing factors between alcohol related single vehicle motorcycle and car crashes. , 2014, Journal of safety research.

[10]  J L Hutton,et al.  Removal of radiation dose response effects: an example of over-matching , 2002, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[11]  Eric T. Donnell,et al.  Case-control and cross-sectional methods for estimating crash modification factors: comparisons from roadway lighting and lane and shoulder width safety effect studies. , 2011, Journal of safety research.

[12]  Aurélie Moskal,et al.  Risk factors for injury accidents among moped and motorcycle riders. , 2012, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[13]  Peter T. Savolainen,et al.  Effects of Horizontal Curvature on Single-Vehicle Motorcycle Crashes along Rural Two-Lane Highways , 2010 .

[14]  Peter T Savolainen,et al.  Examination of factors determining fault in two-vehicle motorcycle crashes. , 2012, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[15]  A F Williams,et al.  Analysis of fatal motorcycle crashes: crash typing. , 1995, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[16]  Asad J. Khattak,et al.  A heterogeneity based case-control analysis of motorcyclist's injury crashes: Evidence from motorcycle crash causation study. , 2018, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[17]  F. Gross,et al.  Safety effects of traffic lane and shoulder widths on two-lane undivided rural roads: A matched case-control study from Norway. , 2020, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[18]  Alfonso Montella,et al.  A data mining approach to investigate patterns of powered two-wheeler crashes in Spain. , 2019, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[19]  Jesse G. Mayes,et al.  THE EFFECT OF LANE AND SHOULDER WIDTHS ON ACCIDENT REDUCTIONS ON RURAL , TWO-LANE ROADS by , 2010 .

[20]  Chanyoung Lee,et al.  Development of crash modification factors of horizontal curve design features for single-motorcycle crashes on rural two-lane highways: A matched case-control study. , 2019, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[21]  Frank Gross,et al.  A Guide to Developing Quality Crash Modification Factors , 2010 .

[22]  Fred L. Mannering,et al.  The relationship among highway geometrics, traffic-related elements and motor-vehicle accident frequencies , 1998 .

[23]  M. Neuman,et al.  Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in inflammatory bowel disease. , 2012, Translational research : the journal of laboratory and clinical medicine.

[24]  Frank Gross,et al.  Safety Effectiveness of Lane and Shoulder Width Combinations on Rural, Two-Lane, Undivided Roads , 2009 .

[25]  Nevine Labib Georggi,et al.  Analysis of Alcohol-Related Motorcycle Crashes in Florida and Recommended Countermeasures , 2001 .

[26]  David D Clarke,et al.  The role of motorcyclist and other driver behaviour in two types of serious accident in the UK. , 2007, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[27]  Paul P Jovanis,et al.  Estimation of the Safety Effectiveness of Lane and Shoulder Width: Case-Control Approach , 2007 .

[28]  Teik Hua Law,et al.  Evaluating the effect of lane width and roadside configurations on speed, lateral position and likelihood of comfortable overtaking in exclusive motorcycle lane. , 2018, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[29]  Rune Elvik,et al.  Can evolutionary theory explain the slow development of knowledge about the level of safety built into roads? , 2017, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[30]  Pei-Sung Lin,et al.  Safety Effects of Horizontal Curve Design on Motorcycle Crash Frequency on Rural, Two-Lane, Undivided Highways in Florida , 2017 .

[31]  Hhj Hurt,et al.  STATUS REPORT OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION DATA, 'MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT CAUSE FACTORS AND IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTERMEASURES' , 1979 .

[32]  Frank Gross,et al.  Case-control analysis in highway safety: Accounting for sites with multiple crashes. , 2013, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[33]  Stuart Newstead,et al.  Analysis of factors that increase motorcycle rider risk compared to car driver risk. , 2012, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[34]  William H Schneider Iv,et al.  A Segment Level Analysis of Multi-Vehicle Motorcycle Crashes in Ohio Using Bayesian Multi-Level Mixed Effects Models , 2014 .

[35]  Ahmad Saifizul,et al.  Investigation on Motorcyclist Riding Behaviour at Curve Entry Using Instrumented Motorcycle , 2014, TheScientificWorldJournal.

[36]  E. Doveh,et al.  The influence of shoulder characteristics on the safety level of two-lane roads: A case-study. , 2019, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[37]  Pei-Sung Lin,et al.  Modeling Safety Effects of Horizontal Curve Design on Injury Severity of Single-Motorcycle Crashes with Mixed-Effects Logistic Model , 2017 .