ANALYSIS OF MOPED CRASHES AND RIDERS' FAULT INVOLVEMENT IN WISCONSIN

Abstract

The moped safety issue has become a serious problem in recent years. In Wisconsin, the number of mopeds registered has doubled between 2003 and 2012. The number of moped involved crashes increased even faster than the number of mopeds registered. In this case, there is a demand to better understand moped safety problems, which is the initial motivation for conducting this study. Initial crash data were extracted from WisTransPortal. The moped-motor and single moped crashes were identified, as well as rider ?s fault involvement. One thousand eighty five crashes in Wisconsin and 251 crashes in Madison are identified as moped-motor crashes. Four hundred and sixty three and two hundred and fifty one accidents are identified as cases where someone was at-fault, respectively. Nine hundred and ninety crashes in Wisconsin and seventy-four crashes in Madison are identified as single moped crashes.

Common crash characteristics and logistic model are introduced to analyze the data. Major findings include that moped riders are more likely to be identified at-fault for crashes occurring at a non-intersection, during a weekend, negotiating a curve, overtaking a vehicle, and turning left or turning right. If the riders use protection gear, they are less likely to be involved in a rider at-fault crash. Riders are also less likely to be identified at-fault when they suffer minor injury, riding under bad light conditions, having a rear end or sideswipe in same direction crashes. Moped crashes are likely uncorrelated with adverse weather, bad road conditions or light conditions in terms of the number of crashes. The most moped crashes happened while riders were going straight.

The moped riders being at-fault attribute is being focused on due to three benefits. In the first place, moped riders can learn under which situation they are more likely to be determined at-fault and how to avoid these situations. In the second place, the law enforcement agencies can use our results to evaluate their policies and standards of determining fault and identify any bias within this process. In the third place, insurance companies can evaluate the driver characteristics and develop rates based on their vulnerability in being considered at-fault in moped crashes. By doing this research, an insight into the moped safety problem can be provided.