french institute of science and technology for transport ... - Ifsttar

2_SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES
Accident rates among
powered two-wheelers
PTWs really deserve a research programme
For nearly two years, researchers from a variety of
disciplines (cognitive psychology, social psychology,
vehicle and infrastructure engineering, biomechanics)
have been investigating the thorny problem of powered
two-wheelers (PTWs). In addition to analyzing accident
processes and contributory factors, the COMPAR
project is attempting to identify the psychosocial determinants
of PTW user behaviours. The study has
thus employed two complementary methodological
approaches. Two IFSTTAR units, MA and LBA, are
involved in COMPAR.
Scenario 1: a third party
vehicle drives onto a main
road without having priority
in spite of the arrival of a
PTW, which collides with it.
Scenario 2: a third party
vehicle makes a left turn
manoeuvre in spite of the
arrival of a PTW travelling
in the opposite direction.
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This research involves three approaches. The first
attempts to identify the principal accident configurations for
PTWs based on a detailed analysis of 1,000 accident reports.
The purpose of this work is to identify the main factors and
the principal ways they combine to determine the nature of
accidents.
The second approach is a psychosocial analysis based on
survey data. The aim is to define and describe the profiles of
PTW users and identify the psychosocial determinants of their
adoption of “risky” driving styles.
The third approach used Detailed Accident Studies to investigate
PTW speeds in relation to the difficulties other road users
experience in detecting them.
Last, a complementary study more concerned with “secondary
safety” relates to the protective efficacy of so-called “light” PTW
safety equipment (summer jackets).
@ CONTACTS
catherine.masson@ifsttar.fr, isabelle.ragot-court@ifsttar.fr
& pierre.van-elslande@ifsttar.fr
Monitoring the ESPARR cohort
Exceptional data
Its unique nature means the ESPARR (1) cohort and the
research based on it provide a fundamental scientific
apparatus for deciding on appropriate concrete measures
to reduce accidents and for monitoring casualties.
Although fatality figures are often quoted, less attention
is given to the large number of casualties who survive,
sometimes with disabilities that are not visible.
In 2011, monitoring ended of the 1,372 road accident
casualties who had agreed in 2004 and 2005 to join the
ESPARR cohort and be monitored for five years. One of the
qualities of the cohort is that it is a representative subsample of
the Rhône Département Road Traffic Casualty Register which
means the findings can be extrapolated to this population.
While receiving treatment in the hospitals in the Rhône Département,
the subjects were asked to provide regular accounts of
the way the accident had affected their lives from the physical,
psychological, family, social, occupation and financial points of
view. The subjects with the most severe injuries were offered a
medical appointment in their home one, three and five years after
the accident with a clinical and neurocognitive assessment.
(1) Study to Monitor a Population of Road Traffic
Accident Casualties in the Rhône Département.
ifsttar French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks