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IATSS Research
ATSS RESEARCH
Motorcycle fatalities in Malaysia
Muhammad Marizwan Abdul Manan *, Andräs Värhelyi
P.O. Box 118, John Ericssons väg 1,22100, Traffic and Roads Unit (Taffik och väg), Department of Technology and Society (Teknik och Samhälle), Faculty ofEngineering (Lunds Tekniska Högskola), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT
Malaysia has the highest road fatality risk (per 100,000 population) among the ASEAN countries and more than 50% of the road accident fatalities involve motorcyclists. This study has collected and analysed data from the police, government authorities, and national and international research institutes. Only fatality data are used due to the severe underreporting of severe injuries (up to 600%) and slight injuries (up to 1400%). The analysis reveals that the highest numbers of motorcycle fatalities occur in rural locations (61%), on primary roads (62%) and on straight road sections (66%). The majority are riders (89%), 16 to 20 years old (22.5%), and 90% of the motorcycles are privately owned. Of those involved in fatal accidents, 75% of the motorcyclists wear helmets, and 35% do not have proper licences. The highest number of fatalities by type of collision is 'angular or side' (27.5%). Although fatal motorcyclist crashes mostly involve 'passenger cars' (28%), motorcyclists are responsible for 50% of the collisions either by crashing singly (25%) or with other motorcyclists (25%). While male motorcyclists predominate (94% of fatalities), female motorcyclists aged 31 to 70, possessing 'no licence', not wearing helmets and travelling during the day, account for a higher percentage than male motorcyclists. Malaysia must acquire more motorcycle exposure data and establish an injury recording system and database based on hospital-records. To reduce motorcycle fatalities, it first has to understand why young male motorcyclists are prone to fatal crashes in the evenings and on weekends on rural primary roads, especially on straight road sections.
© 2012 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Article history:
Received 29 June 2011
Received in revised form 8 February 2012
Accepted 10 February 2012
Keywords: Motorcycle Fatality Malaysia
1. Introduction
Road injuries and fatalities are a growing concern in Malaysia, with more than 6000 killed and over 25,000-recorded injuries yearly for the past 5 years [1]. Road fatalities have shown a steady increase of 4% per year in the last 7 years, rising to 6745 in 2009 [1]. More alarmingly, Malaysia has had the highest fatality risk, i.e. death per 100,000 population, in the world since 1996! [2]. Fig. 1 shows that the majority of road accident fatalities involve motorcyclists, constituting more than 50% of the total number of fatalities. In 2009 alone, motorcycle fatalities reached 4070, which is the highest for the last 10 years [1]. Fig. 1 also shows that motorcycle fatalities are 3 times higher than car fatalities, 6 times higher than pedestrian fatalities and nearly 50 times higher than bus passenger fatalities.
Road accident statistics based on police injury records are probably inadequate and insufficient due largely to underreporting [3-5]. Comparing Malaysian accident statistics to a highly developed motorised country like Sweden (see Table 1), it can be concluded
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 046 222 9125, +46 076 233 5775 (HPno); fax: +46 046 222 9100.
E-mail addresses: mmarizwan@gmail.com (M.M. Abdul Manan), andras.varhelyi@tft.lth.se (A. Varhelyi).
that there are 9 severe injuries for each fatality in the Swedish statistics, while there are only 1.4 severe injuries per fatality according to the Malaysian statistics. The rate of slight injuries per fatality in Sweden is 57 to one, while according to statistics in Malaysia it is 4 to one. Concerning motorcycle injuries and fatalities, the rate of underreporting of injuries in Malaysia is similar. Due to the unreliable injury statistics in Malaysia, further analysis of road safety problems can only be based on fatalities, and including injury data in the analyses would induce bias in inferences and the marginal impacts of a variety of factors could be overestimated [6].
As the total of motorcycle billion kilometres travelled in Malaysia increased from 1999 to 2008, motorcycle fatalities increased as well; see Fig. 2, which indicates that motorcycle casualties are affected by the increase in exposure.
Motorization in Asian countries is growing fast and the motorcycle is the dominating transport mode. The number of motorcycles per thousand people averaged over several major Asian cities is approximately 196, which is 7 times the average of the rest of the world [11]. For example, the number of registered motorcycles in Taiwan comprises 50% of the total number of registered vehicles; in Thailand it is 63%, in Cambodia 84%, in Vietnam 95%, in Lao 79% and in Indonesia 73% [12-14]. Malaysia, with a population of 27.6 million, is not an exception [15,16]. According to The Road Transport Department of Malaysia, the total number of motorcycles in 2009 was 8,940,230
0386-1112/$ - see front matter © 2012 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.iatssr.2012.02.005
Bicycle
Lorry Van Bus 3% 1% 1%
Others 1%
Fig. 1. Fatality distribution by mode of transport [1].
Table 1
Road accident severity in Sweden and Malaysia in 2008 [7,8].
Fatalities Severely Slightly Severe: Slight: injured Injured Fatal Fatal
Sweden
All types of accidents Motorcycle accidents (rider and passenger)
397 51
Malaysia
All types of accidents 6527 Motorcycle accidents 3898 (rider and passenger)
3657 341
8868 5472
22,591 898
25,747 10,326
9:1 7:1
1.4:1 1.4:1
57:1 17:1
4:1 2.6:1
Malaysia), motorcycles constitute one-third of the total motor vehicle population. The motorcycle is the major mode of personal transport for the low-income urban community [20].
In general, motorcycles are the major contributor to road fatalities in the country, with no sign of declining in the near future [19-24]. Moreover, motorcyclists have a higher fatality rate per distance travelled than other vehicles; for example, in 2004, there were 32.2 fatalities per billion kilometres travelled whereas for passenger cars it was 8.39 fatalities per billion [9].
2. Aim
The aim of this paper is to analyse the causality risk of motorcyclists, including both riders and passengers, in order to find the factors contributing to motorcycle crashes and subsequently build a base for further research on how to improve the situation of motorcyclists.
3. Method
The motorcycle fatal accident data is analysed in terms of frequency and pattern by type of location, area, road, time, crash type, gender, age, ownership and type of licence. The data comes from various sources, such as the Malaysian Royal Police Department, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), Department of Statistics [15], Highway Planning Unit [16], Road Transport Department (JPJ), Department of Road Safety (JKJR), Public Works Department (JKR) and World Health Organization (WHO) reports. The main core of the fatal motorcycle accident data, however, comes from the Malaysian Royal Police Department.
4. Analyses
4.1. Malaysian motorcycle fatalities in comparison to ASEAN countries
(47% of all motorised vehicles), which was 5% more than passenger cars [16,17].
The proportion of the motorcycle population on Malaysian roads varies from state to state. In less developed states such as Perlis and Kelantan (northern part of Malaysia), the motorcycle population is more than three-quarters of the total motor vehicle population [18,19]. In more developed states such as Selangor (Western part of
Malaysia's motorcycle fatalities are not among the worst in the Association of South East Asian Nations, ASEAN. Motorcycles constitute approximately 58% of the vehicles in ASEAN countries, and over the last decade the motorcycle has been the major contributor, with 52%, to road traffic fatalities [14]. If we compare motorcycle fatalities per 10,000-registered motorcycles in each country, Malaysia ranks seventh as seen in Table 2. The three highest are Cambodia (75.1),
4500 4000 3500
■g 3000 Ï!
$ 2500
o 1500
1000 500 0
3500 54
3646 126.35
3898 137.42
Motorcycle Fatalities
1 Motorcycle Total KM Travel (billion)
60 <J o o
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Fig. 2. Total motorcycle kilometres travelled and motorcycle fatalities between 1998 and 2009 [8-10].
£ 2000
Table 2
Road traffic safety data from ASEAN countries [14,25].
No ASEAN Population Registered motorcycle Reported fatalities Road fatalities Motorcycle fatalities
countries (2007) (2007) (2007) per 100,000 per 10,000 registered
Total (million) (%) Total (%) population motorcycles
1 Brunei 390,056 0.01 4 54 11 13.8 4.9
2 Singapore 4,436,281 0.14 17 214 48 4.8 7.1 (3)
3 Lao P.D.R. 5,859,393 0.51 79 608 80 10.4 9.6 (2)
4 Cambodia 14,443,679 0.13 84 1545 63 10.7 75.1 (1)
5 Malaysia 26,571,879 7.91 47 6282 58 23.6 (1) 4.6
6 Myanmar 48,798,212 0.68 65 1638 10 3.4 2.4
7 Thailand 63,883,662 16.14 63 12,492 70 19.6 (2) 5.4
8 Vietnam 87,375,196 21.78 95 12,800 80 14.6 (3) 4.7
9 Philippinesa 87,960,117 2.65 48 1185 37 1.3 1.7
10 Indonesia 231,626,978 46.22 73 16,548 61 7.1 2.2
Total 571,345,453 96.17 58 53,366 52
() ranking within category, MC: motorcycle a Data from 2006.
Table 3
Motorcycle fatality rates by region in Malaysia in year 2009 [1,15,16].
Region of Malaysiaa Population Population density (per km2) Registered motorcycles Motorcycle fatality Motorcycle fatality/100,000 population Motorcycle Fatality/10,000 motorcycles
West Coast 4,044,205 730 2,452,630 1031 25.5 4.2
East Coast 3,919,135 215 1,047,225 707 18.0 6.8
Southern 3,233,434 168 1,701,272 673 20.8 4.0
Northern 3,637,266 1926 1,777,419 672 18.5 3.8
East Peninsular 5,540,049 62 689,916 174 3.1 2.5
Federal Territories 1,780,408 9020 1,271,768 95 5.3 0.7
Total 27,565,821b 83 8,940,230 3352c - -
a Malaysia consists of 14 states — 3 in the North, 3 in the West and East coast, 3 Federal territories and 2 in the East Peninsular. b Including 5,411,324 population count based on DOSM 2010. c Excluding 718 unknown cases.
Lao P.D.R (9.6) and Singapore (7.1) in terms of motorcycle fatalities per 10,000 registered motorcycles [14] (see Table 2). However, Malaysia has the highest number of road fatalities per 100,000 population (see Table 2) [14].
4.2. Motorcycle crashes by location
Malaysia's west coast states have the highest number of motorcycle fatalities and fatality rate per 100,000 population, as seen in Table 3. The east coast region, with a lower motorcycle population and less built-up density, has the highest fatality rate per 10,000 motorcycles [1]. Meanwhile, the Federal Territories, which have the highest population density, record the lowest rate in motorcycle fatality per 10,000 registered motorcycles.
Overall, police records show that 61% of these fatalities occur in rural areas while cities record only 8%, as seen in Fig. 3 [1]. Looking deeper into the type of area, motorcycle fatalities are mostly recorded on motorways and primary roads (62%). Apart from this, motorcycles fatalities are also found more in residential areas (20%), as compared to other types of areas, see Fig. 3.
Table 4 shows that the majority of motorcycle fatalities occur on arterial or primary roads, [1,26]. Related to the road length, the highest fatality rate per 100 km and per 100,000 motorcycles also occurs along primary or arterial roads. Moreover, there are more motorcycle fatalities per 100 km of Malaysian primary roads than on secondary roads, local streets and minor roads combined. Unfortunately, data on traffic volumes for the different types of roads is not available; hence, we cannot relate motorcycles crashes to their exposure on these roads.
Fig. 3. Motorcycle fatality based on area type [1].
Table 4
Motorcycle fatality by road type in Malaysia in 2009 [1,8,26].
Road hierarchy Road length ADT MC MC fatal/ MC fatal/
(million) fatalities 100 km 100,000
km % Veh MC N % MC
Expressway 1635 1.3 20.6 * 121 3.0 7.4 *
Primary/arterial 16,939 13.6 12.8 2.6 2021 49.7 11.9 76.7
Secondary/collector 54,681 43.9 6.3 1.6 672 16.5 1.2 42.0
Local street 43,363 34.8 * * 755 18.6 1.7 *
Minor roads 8038 6.4 * * 501 12.3 6.2 *
Total 124,656 100 - - 4070 100 3.3 -
ADT — average daily traffic, Veh — vehicle, MC — motorcycle, (*) — data is not available.
The traffic count (ADT) covers 70% of each road hierarchy in Malaysia.
The great majority of motorcycles fatalities are reported on straight road sections, see Fig. 4 [8]. Fatal accidents involving motorcycles are three times as high on straight road sections compared to the curved sections. Staggered junctions, interchanges and roundabouts have the lowest number of fatalities, recording less than 1.0% fatalities each in 2009 [1].
4.3. Motorcycle fatalities by time and weather conditions
For the period 2000 to 2009, motorcycle fatalities are evenly distributed over the months of the year, see Fig. 5 [1]. Motorcycle fatality records are highest from Saturday to Tuesday, as seen in Fig. 6. The highest motorcycle fatalities occur between 4 pm and 10 pm, as shown in Fig. 7. On average, there have been 243 motorcycle fatalities
70.0% -, 60.0% -50.0% -40.0% -30.0% -20.0% -10.0% -0.0% -
staggered interchanges roundabout cross junction t - junction bend/curve straight junction
Fig. 4. Percentage motorcycle fatality on various parts of the road network in 2009 [1].
Fig. 5. Cumulative percentages of motorcycle fatalities by month from 2000 to 2009 [1].
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Fig. 6. Cumulative percentages of motorcycle fatalities by day from 2000 to 2009 [1].
12.4% 127%
f ^ # ^ <v<f
^ y y y y ^ J
Fig. 7. Cumulative percentages of motorcycle fatality by time of the day from 2000 to 2009 [1].
per month, 60 fatalities per week and 8 fatalities per day over the last 10 years in Malaysia.
Motorcycle fatalities occur more often during clear weather (93.0%) and during the day (55.6%), see Table 5 [1]. The percentage of fatalities occurring during the day in clear weather is 52.5%. Fatalities at night also occur mostly in clear weather conditions (34%).
Table 5
Motorcycle fatalities by weather and light conditions [1].
Weather Light conditions Total %
Day Dawn/ dusk Night with street light Night without street light
Clear 1760 289 593 477 3119 93.0
Windy 1 1 1 1 4 0.1
Foggy 4 15 0 10 29 0.9
Rain 90 14 37 41 182 5.4
Other 8 6 2 2 18 0.5
Total 1863 325 633 531 3352a 100.0
% 55.6 9.7 18.9 15.8 100
a Excluding 718 unknown cases.
4.4. Motorcycle fatalities by type of collisions
The largest group of motorcycle fatalities by type of collision is 'Angular or Side', see Fig. 8. Over the years, this 'Angular or Side' collision has been consistently highest, followed by the 'Out of Control and Head-on' type of collision [1]. The 'Out of Control' group is described by the Royal Police of Malaysia (PDRM) as 'single vehicle accidents' [1], because motorcycles are often found lying off-road and by themselves [1]. 'Squeezed' and 'overturned' are among the lowest, accounting for less than 0.5%.
4.5. Motorcycle fatalities by collision with vehicle type
The most frequent fatal traffic collision is between a motorcycle and passenger car, see Fig. 9 [1]. Collisions between motorcycles are common, as are 'single-motorcycle-accidents', accounting for up to 25% each. 'Single-motorcycle-accidents' do not involve any other type of vehicle, but the police categorizes them as collisions with other vehicles [1,10]. Evidently, motorcyclists themselves contribute to 50% of the fatal collisions either in 'single accidents' or with other motorcyclists.
30.0% -,
15.0%-
/// '/sssss.//
Fig. 8. Cumulative percentages of motorcycle fatality by type of collision from 2000 to 2009 [1].
Van/SUV
Trishaw / Bicycle 1%
Fig. 9. Motorcycle fatalities by collision with vehicle type [1].
Fig. 10 shows that motorcycle fatalities are highest for 16 to 20 year-old males, and that they are 10 times more involved in fatal motorcycle accidents than females. However, the ratio of males to females is highest (12 and 13) for males aged 21 to 25 and 26 to 30, respectively. More alarmingly, the ratio is even higher (21) for males over the age of 75. Meanwhile, looking at the percentage of males and females involved in fatal accidents, as per Fig. 11, male motorcyclists aged 16 to 30 have higher percentages than their female counterparts. However, female motorcyclists aged 31 to 40, 46 to 50 and 56 to 70 have a higher percentage than male motorcyclists in the same age groups.
4.7. Motorcycle fatalities by time associated with gender
The distribution of fatalities for female motorcyclists, during the hours of the day, is highest (70%), from 8 am to 8 pm; for males, the highest fatalities (46.5%) occur from 8 pm to 8 am, i.e., from evening to early morning, see Fig. 12 [1].
4.8. Motorcycle fatalities by motorcycle ownership and licence type by gender
4.6. Motorcycle fatalities by gender, occupancy (rider/passenger) and age groups
Table 6 shows that on an average of 5 years, 92% of motorcycle fatalities are males and 89% of the total motorcycle fatalities are riders [1].The table also indicates that, on average, riders are eight (8) times more involved in fatal accidents, and that males are eleven (11) times more involved than females [1].
According to PDRM (2009), the age group 16 to 20 (22.5%) was most involved in motorcycle fatalities in the period 2000 to 2009[1].
Table 6
Motorcycle fatality by motorcycle occupancy and gender [1].
Year Rider Passenger R P Males Females M:F Total
Total % Total % Total % Total %
2005 3181 88.6 410 11.4 1 8 3223 89.8 368 10.2 1 9 3591
2006 3243 87.8 450 12.2 1 7 3360 91.0 333 9.0 1 10 3693
2007 3197 87.7 449 12.3 1 7 3426 94.0 220 6.0 1 14 3646
2008 3459 88.7 439 11.3 1 8 3587 92.0 311 8.0 1 11 3898
2009 3640 89.4 430 10.6 1 8 3820 93.9 250 6.1 1 15 4070
Average 3344 88.5 436 11.5 1 8 3483 92.1 296 7.9 1 11
R — rider, P — passenger, M — males, F — females
In ninety percent (90%) of the fatality cases, the motorcycle is privately owned as seen in Fig. 13 [1]. Thirty five percent (35%) of these do not have a valid licence [1]. Although the majority of the fatalities are 'full licence' holders, the share of motorcycle fatalities with more licence years (>5 years) is larger than the share of those with fewer licence years [1]. Moreover, Fig. 14 shows that the fatality percentage for female motorcyclists with 'no licence' and 'less than 5 licence years' is higher than for males [1].
4.9. Motorcycle fatalities by type of helmet worn and by gender
As seen in Fig. 15, seventy six percent (76%) of those involved in motorcycle fatalities wear helmets, and 4% wear helmets not strapped properly [1]. The percentage of female motorcyclists involved in fatal accidents and not wearing helmets (24%) is slightly higher than for males (20%), see Fig. 16 [1].
4.10. Motorcycle fatalities by type of injury
The most frequent injury type sustained by motorcyclists in fatal accidents is injury to the head (63%), as seen in Fig. 17 [1]. Other types of single injuries constitute less than 10%, while multiple injuries comprise 20%.
800 -| 700 -600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 -0 -
o o 13
■ 15
■ 10
1-5 6-10 11-1516-2021-2526-3031-3536-4041-4546-5051-5556-6061-6566-7071-75 >75 ■ Male Female oMale : Female
Fig. 10. Motorcycle fatality by age, gender and gender ratio [1].
uo ujcq
m 00 00 00^ O)
11 M m i r i
1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 66-70 71-75 >75
■ % Male % Female
Fig. 11. Motorcycle fatality by age, gender and gender percentage [1].
i(%) Male (%) Female
Fig. 12. Percentage of motorcycle fatality by hours of the day and by gender [1].
Services 3%
Government 1%
'L' Licence 2%
Goods 6%
Full Licence
> 5 years 34%
'L' Licence is Learners licence or probational licence
Fig. 13. Motorcycle fatality by motorcycle ownership and type of licence [1].
No Licence Full Licence > 5 years Full Licence < 5 years ■ (%) Male (%) Female 'L' Licence is Learners licence or probational licence
2.1% 2.5% L' Licence
Fig. 14. Percentage of motorcycle fatality by gender and licence type [1].
4.11. Motorcycle facilities
Motorcycle lanes and motorcycle paths are provided to a certain extent in Malaysia. During the last 10 years the Government has made considerable efforts to reduce motorcycle crashes, e.g., the National Motorcycle Safety Program (Program Keselamatan Motorsi-kal Nasional) [22,27]. As part of this program, various facilities for motorcyclists, such as paths and lanes (along the carriageway or on the road shoulder) exclusively for motorcycles, have been provided at "strategic" locations [28]. Still, this type of facility makes up less than 1% of the whole length of primary roads (Federal Roads),
Wearing helmet but not strapped 4%
Fig. 15. Motorcycle fatalities by type of helmet worn [1].
whereas paved road shoulders account for about 20% of the whole primary road network [28].
It is not clear if non-exclusive motorcycle lanes can mitigate motorcycle crashes on primary roads (federal roads). This kind of motorcycle lane is an extra lane, which is built on the road shoulder itself, with additional markings and warning signs. Nonetheless, motorcycle fatalities on roads equipped with these non-exclusive motorcycle lanes increased from 518 in 2006 to 589 in 2007 [8].
Motorcycle crashes have also occurred on motorways and primary roads that are equipped with exclusive motorcycle paths. From 2006 to 2008, crashes involving motorcycles steadily increased along a primary road, designated as F2, which has an exclusive motorcycle path alongside [8]. Furthermore, there were also cases where at least 5 collisions per year occurred on the exclusive motorcycle path itself from 2006 to 2008 [8].
5. Discussion and conclusion
To analyse motorcycle rider fatalities (involving both drivers and passengers) this paper uses fatality data, since fatality records are found to be more accurate and consistent than injury data in police records [3]. Furthermore, due to underreporting, official police reports of road accident statistics are incomplete, inaccurate and biased [29]. A comparison of Malaysian road accident statistics with those of Sweden reveals that underreporting of severe injuries might be up to 600% and for slight injuries up to 1400%. Studies have shown that many more injured motorcyclists are identified through hospital databases than through police crash databases [30]. Moreover, police records of
Wearing helmet but not strapped
Not wearing helmet I % Male I % Female
Wearing helmet
Fig. 16. Percentage of motorcycle fatality by helmet worn and gender [1].
Fig. 17. Motorcycle fatality by type of injury [1].
people injured in traffic and admitted to hospital are not representative with regard to the mode of transport and the age of the victims [4].
Our analysis reveals that Malaysia's motorcycle fatalities per 10,000 registered motorcycles are still among the lowest in ASEAN countries, i.e. seventh out of ten. However, Malaysia still holds the record for having the highest road fatalities per 100,000 population. The highest motorcycle fatalities are found in the West Coast Area of Malaysia, which has the highest number of registered motorcycles and population. Motorcycle fatalities are highest in rural locations (61%), mostly on the roads (62%), especially primary or arterial roads (62%), and the majority on straight road sections (66%). Motorcycle fatalities are higher from Saturday to Tuesday (60%) and between 4 pm and 10 pm (35%). Most of the fatalities occur during the day and in clear weather conditions. The highest number of fatalities by type of collision is angular or side (27.5%). Although fatal motorcyclist collisions are often with 'passenger cars' (28%), motorcyclists contribute 50% of the collisions either in single accidents (25%) or colliding with other motorcyclists (25%). The highest motorcycle fatalities are recorded for riders (89%) 16 to 20 years old (22.5%), and 90% of these motorcycles are privately owned. Of those involved in fatal accidents, 75% of the motorcyclists wear helmets, and 35% of them do not possess a proper licence. Male motorcyclists are dominant (94%), but the numbers of female fatalities in the age groups 31 to 40, 46 to 50 and 56 to 70 are larger compared to male motorcyclists. Moreover, females are more involved in fatal accidents during the day. Females possess no licence, or have a licence for less than 5 years, and do not wear helmets to a slightly larger extent than males.
A study by Radin Umar [31] also shows that primary roads or arterial roads in Malaysia have the highest number of motorcycle fatalities. Of the roads in Malaysia, 60% are primary roads, which are partially access controlled, mostly non-segregated or single carriageway, with intrinsically dangerous features such as trees, open culverts, access to rural houses and narrow road barriers [12,26,32,33].
That motorcycle fatalities are more frequent in rural areas may be due to greater speeds made possible by lower traffic volumes and less traffic control [21,34]. In rural areas, absence of rescue and the late arrival of rescue at the scene of accidents may also contribute to fatality [21,35]. Moreover, helmet compliance is low in rural areas [36,37] due to lack of enforcement and road safety awareness [38]. Besides, a high motorcycle volume is typical in rural areas in Malaysia, comprising 25% to 55% of total traffic [12]. On the other hand, studies have confirmed that fatal motorcycle crashes are likely to occur on straight road sections [18,28] that encourage speeding [39].
Other studies have shown that males aged between 16 and 25 are among the most commonly involved in motorcycle fatalities [18,34,35,40,41]. Most of them have no licences [1,18] or have less than 3 years of experience [28]. Hence, young motorcyclists are
inexperienced, lack proper riding skills [42,43], are impulsive [44], often show risky behaviour [43,45,46] and are mostly self-taught by trial and error [43]. It has also been shown that young motorcyclists ride for enjoyment, expression and thrill [34,46], and in doing so they tend to violate traffic laws e.g., by not wearing helmets [12,34,43] and exceeding the speed limit [45].
Female motorcyclists who are aged 31 to 70, possess 'no licence', and travel during the day are involved in a higher percentage of all female motorcycle fatalities compared to their male counterparts. Despite the fact that female riders wear helmets to a larger extent than male riders [36,37], this study has shown that, when not wearing helmets, female fatalities are higher than male fatalities This phenomenon might take place in rural environments where housewives or single female parents, who are usually aged 31 to 70, often wear 'Hijab' and frequently commute along primary roads during the day. Their activities are varied, ranging from running small businesses to fetching their children. However, these factors have not yet been properly studied and proven.
This study points out 3 main types of crashes in Malaysia; collisions with passenger cars (28%), collisions with other motorcycles (25%) and single-motorcycle crashes (25%). Motorcycle accidents with passenger cars are also reported in Pang et al. [28], Hsu et al. [12] and Haque et al. [40]. Accidents are mainly due to the mixed traffic conditions in Asian countries, where motorcyclists share the roads with cars and are the most vulnerable users [12,47]. Motorcycle single-vehicle accidents are also frequently reported [32,33,35,48] and are associated with poor control [49] coupled with inappropriate riding speeds [50]. Fatal motorcycle crashes involving roadside barriers and sharp surface objects are predominantly single vehicle crashes [32,33].
Other studies support the assertion that motorcycle fatal crashes occur in the evening [35,40], especially during weekends and in clear weather [32,40,51]. Krantz [49] and Yau [48] find that single-vehicle accidents occur mostly on weekends and often at night, due mainly to inadequate visibility at night, which worsens the non-conspicuity of motorcycles [52].
Injury caused in motorcycle fatalities is mainly to the 'head' [35,53-55] and face [56] and reportedly found more often in young motorcyclists [53]. Despite the proven effectiveness and the success of motorcycle helmets in reducing the fatality risk of motorcycle drivers and passengers [36,37,54,55,57], this study shows that 20% of the motorcycle riders involved in fatal accidents did not wear helmets, and 63% sustained head injuries. Of these, 75% wore helmets, so whether the helmets give enough protection should be further investigated. Another perspective on motorcycle fatalities among young Malaysians may be the aspect of 'limited-choices'. A young fresh graduate in Malaysia may find it costly to buy a car and, due to poor public transportation, he or she may instead opt for a motorcycle. In rural areas, riding motorcycles is considered a tradition, and motorcycles are passed down from generation to generation. It is convenient to use a motorcycle in plantations or paddy fields and along narrow paths often connected to primary roads.
This study does not provide an understanding of young motorcyclists' behaviour. The influence on, or motivation for, risky behaviour in the local context for young motorcyclists is still uncharted territory, although many international experts [42,45] point out that drugs, alcohol and suicidal tendency are prominent influences on such behaviour. The fact that the majority of the motorcyclists killed in accidents are young males [1] is irrefutable. However, alcohol, drugs and suicidal tendencies or urges are forbidden in Islam, which is the prime religion in Malaysia. Thus, the socio-economic context of motorcycle fatalities and the underlying causes have to be explored further. The proportion of fatalities on straight road sections in good weather conditions, and the large number of young males involved indicate that further research should be directed to finding the contributing factors.
One of the conclusions is that accident recording must be improved in Malaysia by establishing an injury recording system and database based on hospital records to complement police records. Moreover, comprehensive traffic volume counts must be conducted on all road types in Malaysia in order to further analyse road user exposure and compare fatality risks on each road type. Malaysia still lacks an understanding of the socio-economic scenario and behaviour of motorcyclists with respect to road safety. Thus, to reduce motorcycle fatalities, we have to understand why young male motorcyclists travelling on rural primary roads, especially on straight road sections in the evenings and weekends, are prone to fatal accidents.
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