Factors associated with Fatal Motorcycle Accidents (MAs) in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Motorcycle accidents (MAs) account for nearly 40% of road traffic accidents (RTA) reported annually in Sri Lanka. The main objective of this research was to identify the risk factors associated with MAs in Sri Lanka. The binary logistic regression analysis is used in this study to predict the relative likelihood of fatal Mas happening against the non-fatal MAs, to determine the risk factors associated with RTAs in Sri Lanka by considering the secondary data from 2013 – 2019. Weekday, dry road surface, clear weather, daylight, a night with improper street lighting, roundabout, road with no junction, age of driver being 40-59, age of the driver being 18-39, age of the driver being less than 18, having no valid license, male, typical working day, typical weekday, and rural area were the variables identified from the binary logistics regression model. These proved to have a significant positive influence on the odd ratio of fatal motorcycle accident occurrences. In order to reduce the number of accidents the severity of injuries, by utilizing signalization, building bridges for pedestrians, establishing pavement tunnels to minimize exposure to moving vehicles are prominently recommended.