Investigating contributing factors to severe injuries in crashes involving motorized rickshaws in Pakistan

Motorized rickshaws are a common mode of urban transportation in many low and middle-income countries, particularly in South Asia (e.g., Pakistan and India). Nevertheless, they contribute significantly to road crashes, leading to fatalities and injuries due to the lack of limited safety features and high traffic violations among their drivers. Despite these risks, research on the traffic safety of motorized rickshaws remains limited. In addition, existing studies often overlook the impact of roadway geometric factors, which can further increase crash risks for these vehicles.

The present study addresses the aforementioned gaps by employing a random parameters model with heterogeneity in means and variances to analyze the factors influencing injury severity, using data from 1997 motorized rickshaw-involved crashes in Pakistan.

The analysis reveals that some temporal characteristics (i.e., summer and nighttime) and environmental characteristics (i.e., rainy and cloudy) lead to a higher likelihood of severe injuries in crashes involving motorized rickshaws. In addition, crash attributes such as speeding, collisions with pedestrians, and heavy vehicles are significantly associated with increased injury severity. Moreover, the severity of crashes is also influenced by road features, such as narrower lanes, horizontal and vertical gradients, intersections, and the presence of sidewalks.

In light of the present study's findings, several policy recommendations are proposed, including enforcing speed limits, implementing awareness programs targeting younger drivers, developing strategies to manage mixed traffic, and educating rickshaw drivers on safe driving practices to reduce crashes and enhance safety for motorized rickshaws.