Radin Sohadi Radin Umar

Motorcycle safety programmes in Malaysia: how effective are they?

This paper presents the approach taken by the Malaysian Government to contain motorcycle casualties in Malaysia. It involves the exposure control, crash prevention, behaviour modification and injury control related to humans, vehicles and the environment based on pre-crash, crash and post-crash scenarios of motorcycle accidents. These initiatives emanated mainly from the research and development carried out by the Road Safety Research Centre at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Recent outcomes from these initiatives are presented and their impact is highlighted.This paper presents the approach taken by the Malaysian Government to contain motorcycle casualties in Malaysia. It involves the exposure control, crash prevention, behaviour modification and injury control related to humans, vehicles and the environment based on pre-crash, crash and post-crash scenarios of motorcycle accidents. These initiatives emanated mainly from the research and development carried out by the Road Safety Research Centre at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Recent outcomes from these initiatives are presented and their impact is highlighted.

KEY COMPONENTS OF A MOTORCYCLE-TRAFFIC SYSTEM: A STUDY ALONG THE MOTORCYCLE PATH IN MALAYSIA

The key road safety problem in developing world like ASEAN countries is motorcycle safety. Motorcycle is a popular mode of personal travel and formed as the major road user. Studies proved that segregation is the best engineering practice to save lives of motorcyclists. Acknowledging these benefits, the Malaysian government adopted a policy to provide motorcycle facility along its new highways and federal roads. The need to provide this special facility brought to light on the deficiencies in studies of motorcycle traffic sciences and facility design. This paper attempts to establish the characteristics of key components of a motorcycle-traffic system in Malaysia, i.e. the motorcycle/rider unit, motorcyclist space requirement and riding manner along motorcycle paths of various lane widths. It serves as useful input in developing design guidelines of motorcycle facilities for highly motorcycled countries in their effort to curb motorcycle safety problems. Digital recordings of motorcyclists along the existing motorcycle path in Malaysia were captured at six sites and transcribed into two types of motorcycle-sizes. Basic dimensions of a motorcycle/rider unit were directly measured. The separation distance between side-by-side motorcyclists was obtained by employing the digital recording technique. The motorcyclist operating space was then established. Three-stages of field and experimented studies was conducted to observe the motorcyclists riding manner along various lane widths from low to high volume conditions. The small- and medium-sized type motorcycles (150c.c. and below) made up 99% of the motorcycles population in Malaysia. A static motorcyclist measured about 0.8m in width, 2.0m in length, and requires an operating width of 1.3m. At a lane width of 1.7m or below, motorcycle flow applies the lane or headway concept. Above this optimum value, motorcycle flow adopted the space concept. This implied that a motorcycle path should be more than 1.7m wide to allow two motorcyclists to pass each other.

Motorcycle helmet: Part I. Biomechanics and computational issues

Abstract This paper is devoted to review the current status related to motorcycle helmet crash studies from biomechanics and computational point of view. The importance of motorcycle helmet performance on statistical background was reviewed. The paper is divided into two main sections: in the first section, the biomechanics issues are highlighted and the head injury classifications are presented. The injury mechanisms for different injury types are analyzed and the related helmeted-head impacts were identified. The injury tolerances for the head main components presented with an insight into the current controversies among the different limits particularly rotational acceleration effects on the brain and the DAI brain damage type. In the second section, insights into the computational issues that are critical to the understanding of the helmet safety are presented. Some recent examples in which computational techniques used are also reviewed. Finally, directions for future research are also highlighted.

Modeling of Compliance Behavior of Motorcyclists to Proper Usage of Safety Helmets in Malaysia

A questionnaire study was carried out in Kajang, Malaysia on the compliance behavior of motorcyclists in relation to the proper usage of safety helmets. A total of 500 respondents were interviewed and the data analyzed using logistic regression method. Six variables were found to be significant at 5 percent level (p < 0.05): age, gender, distance of travel, location of travel, riders practice and perception of police enforcement. Compliance to the proper usage of safety helmet was higher for motorcyclists 21 years of age and above, female riders and pillion passengers, travelling in town areas, categorized as having good practices, who are able to predict enforcement activities and travelling a distance of 2 km and above.

Motorcycle Helmet Part II. Materials and Design Issues.

Abstract The main objective of this paper is to formulate a methodology, which could be used for material selection and basic design of motorcycle helmets. The importance of simplified solutions to motorcycle helmet material selection and design are first highlighted. Two methods are presented. The first approach is based on energy absorption theory for packaging design and also was used for bicycle helmets design with some adjustments. This method is reviewed and modified to cope with the motorcycle helmet design requirements. The second approach is also based on energy absorption principle. This method was developed for packaging design but the same principles could be employed to the motorcycle helmet problem. It was found that the two approaches have the same energy absorption principles but differ in the way of formulation and utilization. These differences could have significant effect on the results particularly the energy per unit volume calculation. However, both procedures could be used as a useful tool for the helmet foam material selection and helmet preliminary analysis and design. Using these energy approaches together with advanced computational techniques could reduce the lead-time of helmet design and manufacture.

MOTORCYCLE CRASH PREDICTION MODEL FOR NON-SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS

This paper attempts to develop a prediction model for motorcycle crashes at non-signalized intersections on urban roads in Malaysia. The Generalized Linear Modeling approach was used to develop the model. The final model revealed that an increase in motorcycle and non-motorcycle flows entering an intersection is associated with an increase in motorcycle crashes. Non-motorcycle flow on major road had the greatest effect on the probability of motorcycle crashes. Approach speed, lane width, number of lanes, shoulder width and land use were also found to be significant in explaining motorcycle crashes. The model should assist traffic engineers to decide the need for appropriate intersection treatment that specifically designed for non-exclusive motorcycle lane facilities.

Impact of the effect of economic crisis and the targeted motorcycle safety programme on motorcycle-related accidents, injuries and fatalities in Malaysia

In 1997, a Motorcycle Safety Programme (MSP) was introduced to address the motorcycle-related accident problem. The MSP was specifically targeted at motorcyclists. In addition to the MSP, the recent economic recession has significantly contributed to a reduction of traffic-related incidents. This paper examines the effects of the recent economic crisis and the MSP on motorcycle-related accidents, casualties and fatalities in Malaysia. The autocorrelation integrated moving average model with transfer function was used to evaluate the overall effects of the interventions. The variables used in developing the model were gross domestic product and MSPs. The analysis found a 25% reduction in the number of motorcycle-related accidents, a 27% reduction in motorcycle casualties and a 38% reduction in motorcycle fatalities after the implementation of MSP. Findings indicate that the MSP has been one of the effective measures in reducing motorcycle safety problems in Malaysia. Apart from that, the performance of the countrys economy was also found to be significant in explaining the number of motorcycle-related accidents, casualties and fatalities in Malaysia.

Engaging policy makers in road safety research in Malaysia: A theoretical and contextual analysis

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a growing public health problem that must be addressed through evidence-based interventions including policy-level changes such as the enactment of legislation to mandate specific behaviors and practices. Policy makers need to be engaged in road safety research to ensure that road safety policies are grounded in scientific evidence. This paper examines the strategies used to engage policy makers and other stakeholder groups and discusses the challenges that result from a multi-disciplinary, inter-sectoral collaboration. A framework for engaging policy makers in research was developed and applied to describe an example of collective road safety research in Malaysia. Key components of this framework include readiness, assessment, planning, implementation/evaluation, and policy development/sustainability. The case study of a collaborative intervention trial for the prevention of motorcycle crashes and deaths in Malaysia serves as a model for policy engagement by road safety and injury researchers. The analytic description of this research process in Malaysia demonstrates that the framework, through its five stages, can be used as a tool to guide the integration of needed research evidence into policy for road safety and injury prevention.

Crashes with roadside objects along motorcycle lanes in Malaysia

Exclusive motorcycle lanes were introduced in Malaysia in the 1980s to reduce motorcyclist fatalities and they seem to be effective. However, no design guide has yet been developed for designing safer exclusive motorcycle lanes. The construction of Malaysian exclusive motorcycle lanes is based on the design criteria for cycle tracks [6], which does not suit the fast travelling and high volume of motorcycles along the exclusive lanes. According to the collected accident data, frequent motorcycle crashes still occur on exclusive motorcycle lanes. The present study found that roadside objects are one of the main contributing factors to motorcyclist fatalities. As a standard practice, guardrails have been planted along highways and roads. The design engineer of exclusive motorcycle lanes utilised the same practice and planted standard guardrails along exclusive motorcycle lanes. The suitability and the importance of the standard guardrail system as protection agent have been investigated and supported by real-world crash data. The catchment areas of the study were the top two longest exclusive motorcycle lanes in Malaysia: the exclusive motorcycle lanes along Federal Highway F0002 and the exclusive motorcycle lane along Shah Alam Expressway. Crash cases collected over 4½-year period were from the accident database of the authorities. A total number of 107 cases were recorded as motorcycle crashes involving roadside objects. Guardrails have been identified as the most struck object, representing 32.7% of all roadside object-related motorcycle crashes along exclusive motorcycle lanes. An odds ratio analysis has found that narrow surface objects contribute to higher fatality rate than guardrails. However, guardrails still contribute 23.5% of all fatal roadside object-related crashes and were found to be 1.7 times more likely to cause serious injury to motorcyclists than non-object-related motorcycle crashes. These findings support that guardrails are suitable to be used as a protection agent for the motorcyclists using the exclusive motorcycle lanes. However, further research and enhancements on the guardrail design system and material type are needed to have safer exclusive motorcycle lanes.

THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT'S ROAD ACCIDENT DEATH REDUCTION TARGET FOR YEAR 2010

Objective: This paper makes a projection of the vehicle ownership rate to the year 2010 and to use this projection to predict road accident deaths in year 2010. The projection served as an indicator for the Malaysian government to achieve a 4 road accident deaths per 10,000 vehicles safety target in year 2010. Method: The study included the prediction of vehicle ownership and the analysis of past trends in the road accident death rate. Gompertz growth model was used to project vehicle ownership and the prediction of road accident death rate was done using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model with transfer noise function. Results and Conclusions: The Gompertz model predicted that vehicle ownership would be equal to 0.4409 by the year 2010. The road accident death rate is projected to decrease to 4.22 in year 2010, at an average decline rate of 2.14% per annum. This result suggests that a minimum 2.18% reduction per annum is required to achieve the national target in year 2010.