Motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable since worldwide they represent 23% of all road traffic deaths. Fatalities are decreasing but still not at the same rate of car occupants. Continuous monitoring of traffic accidents and their in‐depth comprehension (i.e. relationship between injuries and causes) are necessary to develop effective countermeasures and thus to reduce the number of crashes as well as the injury severity. In this paper 40 powered two‐wheeler to other vehicle urban accidents have been analysed from the InSAFE database. All accidents involved at least one seriously injured rider or pillion passenger. Results are presented in terms of accident configurations, injury analysis, and impact to injury correlation. The analysis pointed out that the main crash configuration was the head‐on side collision (45%). In 75% of the cases, the motorcyclist hit other vehicle with the frontal part of the powered two‐wheeler. Twenty‐two percent of motorcyclists lost motorcycle control and fell down before the crash. Head and thorax were the body regions most seriously injured. The scooter’s front glove compartment is accountable for a relevant injury percentage. The results allowed the identification of possible countermeasures in terms of safety devices or re‐design of vehicle sections in order to reduce the injuries in this subset of accidents.
Keywords:
injury source, motorcycle, motorcyclist injury, powered two‐wheelers, road accident