Typical injury patterns of motorcyclists in different crash types: effectiveness and improvements of countermeasures

There is a high injury rate in motorcycle accidents. In contrast to automobiles, there have been no improvements in the passive safety of motorcycles in the last few decades. The motorcyclist drives without an impact absorbing zone, and his possible safety measures are limited to a safety helmet and appropriate safety clothing. His kinematics in a crash can take many different forms. The object of this study is the registration of 173 real-life motorcycle crashes at the scene of the accident, to get a coherent picture of the severity and injury localisation in different crash-types. Additionally, the efficiency of protective measures (147 articles of clothing and 85 crash helmets) was analysed.