STUDY OF MOTORCYCLE SAFETY IN NABLUS CITY
Loading...
Date
2023-04-25
Authors
Mohammed Kamel Jalal Abdul Hadi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Motorcycle safety needs to be studied in the light of the increasing use of this mode in Palestine. Nablus Governorate witnessed high increase in the rate of licensed motorcycles during 2015-2021, and, therefore, it was selected to study motorcycle safety.
The aim of this research is to highlight the motorcycle crashes characteristics, generate crash profile for Nablus City, and study the behavior of motorcyclists. This leads to propose countermeasures to improve motorcycle safety.
Motorcycle crash data were obtained from Nablus Traffic Police Department covering the period from January 2019 to November 2021 for the city of Nablus. Additional data were collected from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Motorcycle crash profile is generated. Spatial analysis is conducted to generate motorcycle crash maps to identify the hazardous zones. Using footage from installed cameras at a representative intersection, the behavior of motorcyclists at the intersection is observed. Analysis-of-Variance Test is then used to determine if there are any significant differences between several aspects related to motorcyclists’ behaviors.
The outcome of the research illustrates that May and September, Saturday, and the hour 15:00-16:00 were the most frequent and temporal during that period of time. The most frequent reason of motorcycle crashes was unsecured changing lanes. The most frequent motorcycle crashes zone is Al-Qirawan in Rafedia. Analysis of the behavior at a key intersection there shows that 70% of motorcyclists committed at least one behavioral violation. The study showed that the percentages of those with legal behavior and wearing helmets were only 12.7% and 5.1% of total, for the delivery and private use motorcyclists, respectively.
Based on the analysis, there is lack of respect of traffic regulations by motorcyclists, and there is no effective enforcement to deter violators. More efforts need to be exerted by traffic police for strict enforcement of traffic regulations and motorcyclists’ violations. Proper education and awareness for the motorcyclists are needed.
Keywords: Motorcycle crashes; crash profile; crash spatial analysis; motorcyclists’ behavior; Nablus; Palestine.