The kinematic features of motorcycles in congested urban networks

Lee, Tzu-Chang; Polak, John W; Bell, Michael G H; Wigan, Marcus

doi:10.1016/j.aap.2011.04.002

The kinematic features of motorcycles in congested urban networks

Lee, Tzu-Chang; Polak, John W; Bell, Michael G H; Wigan, Marcus

Authors

Tzu-Chang Lee

John W Polak

Michael G H Bell

Marcus Wigan

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to compare the kinematic features of motorcycles with those of passenger cars in urban traffic. The hypothesis that motorcycles’ capability to swerve in urban traffic contributes to their seemingly assertive behaviour is examined. Data for this study were collected in afternoon peak hours at Central London using video recorders. Detailed information on the trajectories of 2109 vehicles (including 477 motorcycles and 1293 passenger cars) was extracted from the video images and the observable kinematic features were analysed. In addition, a model describing the longitudinal following behaviour of motorcycles was employed to analyse the impacts of motorcycles’ swerving behaviour. The model was calibrated using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) numerical methods. The observable kinematic features show that in comparison to passenger cars, motorcycles have shorter safety gaps, higher speeds and severer acceleration and deceleration rates reflecting their generally much higher power to weight ratios and usage of available braking power. However, the data also support the hypothesis that motorcyclists maintain a considerable safety margin as they have the ability to avoid a collision by swerving away.

Citation

Lee, T.-C., Polak, J. W., Bell, M. G. H., & Wigan, M. (2012). The kinematic features of motorcycles in congested urban networks. Accident analysis and prevention, 49, 203-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.04.002

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	2012
Deposit Date	Sep 2, 2013
Print ISSN	0001-4575
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	49
Pages	203-211
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.04.002
Keywords	Motorcycle safety; Motorcyclist behaviour; Bayesian analysis; MCMC;
Public URL	http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/6302
Publisher URL	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.04.002