Factors contributing to the severity of motorcycle rear-end crashes in Thailand

Motorcycle (MC) rear-end collisions cause many serious injuries and deaths for MC riders. In Thailand, the MC crash investigation data revealed that 18% of all MC crashes were rear-end collisions, which accounted for 18% of all fatalities as well. The aim of this study was to investigate the causes of injuries and deaths from MC rear-end collisions and factors that contribute to their severity level. Between 2016 and 2020, 141 MC rear-end crashes were thoroughly investigated throughout Thailand.

The ordinal logistic analysis was conducted to analyze factors contributing to severe injuries. The analysis to rear-end collision models comprised four categories: M1 (n = 141) is all types of rear-end collisions to MC, and M2 (n = 114) is the rear-end collision due to other vehicles (OV) collided by MC, M3 (n = 72) is the rear-end collisions for traveling OV collided by MC, and M4 (n = 42) is the rear-end collision for MC hitting the parked OV. The outcomes are verified by the likelihood and Pseudo R².

When a MC collides with the rear of another vehicle, there are more fatalities than when other vehicles collide with the rear of a MC. Furthermore, the probability of death is higher if MCs collide with the rear-end of parking vehicles. As for the primary crash contributing factor, motorcyclists' perception failure was the most frequent. Experience, license status, driving conditions, speed, the time of the crash, the areas of the crash, and types of other vehicles involved significantly influence the severity of rear-end crashes.

In severe crashes, riders with perception failure are more likely to be involved. Based on the findings of this study, some policies and countermeasures can be drawn to prevent MC rear-end crashes and reduce their severity.