- Composition of Accident Types -   Figure 16 shows that an overwhelming number of fatal moped crashes occur at crossings, accounting for 39% of the total.

(1)Crossing collisions (39%) (2)Single-vehicle accidents (21%) (3)Right-turn/straight-ahead collisions (9%)

Typical moped accidents are examined below.

(1)Crossing Collisions   As shown in Figure 17, those killed in crossing collisions on mopeds were typically riders aged 55 or above, meeting the accidents during the daytime. Focusing on the aged moped riders, daytime fatalities numbered 97 people, accounting for 55% of all daytime moped deaths, whereas they numbered 5 riders at night, accounting for an 8% of all nighttime moped fatalities. As already seen in Fig. 15, aged motorcyclists also tend to meet fatal accidents during the daytime.   As for those aged 24 and below, nighttime deaths totaled 29, accounting for 48%, whereas daytime fatalities numbered 21, or a relatively small 12% of all daytime deaths.

(2)Single-Vehicle Accidents   Fatalities of single-moped accidents came to 133 people. Figure 18, which shows the breakdown of accidents by type, indicates that rollover accidents account for 21%, less than 30% for motorcycles, while crashes into parked vehicles account for 18%, a considerably larger proportion compared with 7% for motorcycles. This is apparently due to the fact that because moped riders usually travel on the side of the road, many of the crashes are into vehicles parked in that area. Collisions into guardrails, buildings, fences, bridges, telephone poles, signposts and other fixed structures accounted for 46%.

As seen in Fig. 19, moped riders aged below 39 account for 62% of nighttime accident deaths, while those aged 70 and above account for 55% of daytime fatalities.

Figure 20 shows that, in fatal single-moped accidents that occurred at road curves, the speed of vehicles far exceeded the legal speed limit of 30 km/h for mopeds.

(3)Right-Turn/Straight-Ahead Collisions   Fatalities of right-turn/straight ahead collisions numbered 54 riders. By age group, teenagers aged 16-19 were frequent victims, with their accidents mostly occurring at night. Accidents, however, were distributed in all age groups (Fig. 21). Fatalities among aged riders were greater during the daytime.

Of the various types of two-wheeled vehicle accidents taking place most frequently that have been examined so far, typical cases of right-turn/straight-ahead collision and crossing collision were extracted from accident investigation conducted by the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA) for further analysis.

(1)Right-Turn/Straight-Ahead Collision (motorcycle; at night)   The motorcyclist saw that a car was stopping to turn right at an intersection about 150 m ahead. Assuming that the car was waiting for him to pass, the rider proceeded ahead at a speed of 60-70 km/h. The automobile driver, waiting at the right-turn lane for opposing traffic to pass, saw the headlights of several cars about 70-100 m ahead but believed the distance to be sufficient to make the right turn. He began the turn without making sure it was safe. The motorcyclist found the car starting the right turn 10-20 m from the point of collision and applied full brakes, but it was too late to avoid a crash. The motorcycle collided with the car at a speed of about 50 km/h. The rider flew into the air over the hood of the car and landed about 8 m forward to the left. This fortunately decreased the impact and saved him from serious injury. One contributing factor to this accident was that the car driver was distracted by a bicycle on the crosswalk that narrowly escaped collision with a car in front of him. He tried to confirm safety immediately afterwards, recognizing cars substantially far away, but overlooked the approaching motorcycle. As the accident occurred at night, the motorcyclist should have paid more attention to the traffic at the intersection and to nearby vehicles, allowing for the possibility of a car driver not noticing his motorcycle, and should have slowed down so that he could immediately respond to the movement of the car.

(2)Crossing Collision (Moped; daytime)   The moped rider was approaching an intersection with a stop sign and a road mirror because of an obstructed left view. The rider entered the intersection at a speed of 35 km/h without stopping and making sure of safety, believing it was usually safe since there was little traffic. The rider crashed into a car approaching from the left at 35 km/h. The moped rider hit the right side door of the car with his left leg and broke the thighbone, a serious injury. The primary cause was that the rider ignored the stop sign and safety check.

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Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA)