Dissertaçãox

ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS INVOLVING TWO-
WHEELED VEHICLES
Christian Caparrós Hernández
Master thesis to obtain the degree of

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Jury
President: Prof. Dr. Nuno Manuel Maia

Adviser: Prof. Dr João Manuel Pereira Dias
Members: Prof. Dr. João Manuel Pereira Dias
Prof. Dr. Luís Alberto Gonçalves de Sousa
September 2008
Acknowledgments
First of all, I would like to say thanks to my thesis promoter prof. João Dias for the time he spent
to guide me through this work and for all the ideas he suggested me to carry out this thesis.
Also I would like to thank prof. Ramon Peral to make my Lisbon trip easier, cooperating in my
thesis and suggesting me for the whole year.
To my parents to give the chance of making this trip, supporting my decisions and helping me in
everything they could.
Generally, to everybody who has become this year in my best experience
ii
Abstract
The accidents involving two-wheelers vehicles are an important topic concerning road safety in
Portugal and Spain as also in Europe. Accidentology studies to identify the major factors involved in
these accidents and the development of methodologies for the analysis and reconstruction of such
accidents are important topics of research.
This thesis includes a detailed statistical analysis of the about 10000 accidents involving two-
wheeled vehicles, occurred in Portugal in 2007, with the information gathered from the national
accident database collected form police data. The objective of this analysis is to identify the factors
involved in the accidents, as human factors like age or gender, environmental factors as roads type or
weather conditions, or vehicle factors such as vehicle characteristics. In addition full reconstructions
of real accidents involving powered two-wheelers were carried out using the commercial software for
accident reconstruction Pc-Crash. , in order to get detailed investigation to be included in a in-depth
accident database as also to analyse and study the applicability of the accident reconstruction tools to
these accidents. Therefore, from accident data, speed, trajectories, and also the contribution factors
that lead to accidents are analysed and identified.
Finally, one of the top issues related with motorcycles in Europe, is the directive 91/439/CEE
that allows drivers with a type B driving licence to drive motorcycles under 125cc and 11 kw. This
directive I has already been adopted in many European countries such as Spain. The implications of
the application of this directive in Portugal is analysed based on the Spanish experience.
Keywords
Accident Reconstruction
Two-wheeler vehicles
Driving licences
Accident database
iii
Resumo
Os acidentes envolvendo veículos de duas rodas são um importante tópico no que respeita à
segurança rodoviária, em Portugal, em Espanha e também na Europa. Estudos de acidentologia que
permitam identificar os principais factores envolvidos nestes acidentes e o desenvolvimento de
metodologias para a reconstituição deste tipo de acidentes são importantes tópicos de investigação.
Esta tese inclui uma análise estatística detalhada dos cerca de 10000 acidentes com veículos
de duas rodas ocorridos em Portugal em 2007, com base nos dados da base de dados de acidentes
nacional, recolhida pelas autoridades policiais. O objectivo desta análise é identificar os factores
envolvidos nos acidentes, desde os factores humanos como seja a idade ou o sexo, a factores
relacionados com o veículo, como sejam as características destes ou os factores ambientais como a
localização ou as condições atmosféricas. Adicionalmente são realizadas reconstituições de
acidentes reais com recurso ao software comercial Pc-Crash, de modo a obter as condições
detalhadas em relação à forma como e porque acontecem os acidentes com veículos de duas rodas.
Esta informação destina-se a ser incluída numa base de dados de investigação aprofundada de
acidentes assim como para verificar a aplicabilidade destas metodologias na investigação e
reconstituição de acidentes. Assim a partir da informação recolhida sobre cada acidente, são
realizadas simulações computacionais, que permitem determinar as velocidades, trajectórias e os
factores contributivos para o acidente.
Finalmente, neste trabalho, são analisadas as implicações da adopção por Portugal da
directiva 91/439/CEE, que permite que um condutor com a carta B (automóveis ligeiros) possa
conduzir motociclos até 125 cm3 e 11 kw de potência. Esta directiva já foi adoptada por muitos países
europeus entre eles a Espanha. É com base na experiência espanhola, que são analisadas as
implicações da sua implementação em Portugal, sendo analisados os impactos positivos e negativos.
Palavras-chave
Veículos de duas rodas
Reconstituição de acidentes
Cartas de condução
Base da dados de accidentes.
iv
Acronyms
PTW – Powered Two-Wheelers
ETSC – European Transport Safety Council
CE – Código da Estrada
RGC – Reglamento General de Conductores
GDP – Gross Domestic Product
OECE – Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Accident - Any collision of a motor vehicle on a public roadway which results in property damage
and/or personal injury to the motorcycle rider or passenger.
Accident involving victims – Any collision of a motor vehicle on a public roadway which results are
personal injuries to the driver or passengers.
Accident involving serious injuries – Any collision of a motor vehicle on a public roadway which
result is one or more serious injuries, without involving fatalities
Accident involving slight injuries – Any collision of a motor vehicle on a public roadway which result
is one or more slight injuries, without involving fatalities or serious injuries
Driver –Everybody who drives a vehicle or an animal on a public roadway
Victim – Everybody who suffers injuries as a consequence of an accident
Fatal Accident – Any collision of a motor vehicle on a public roadway which result is one or more
fatalities
Fatal injuries - One or more injuries which result in death within 30 days
Pedestrian – Everybody who goes on foot on a public roadway
Serious injuries – One or more injuries who are admitted to hospital at least for 24 hours
Slight injuries – One or more injuries who are not considered serious injuries
v
Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iii
Keywords ....................................................................................................................................... iii
Resumo ......................................................................................................................................... iv
Palavras-chave .............................................................................................................................. iv
Acronyms .......................................................................................................................................v
List of figures ............................................................................................................................... viii
List of tables .................................................................................................................................. xi
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1. Motivation .................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Bibliography revision ................................................................................................... 4
1.3. Goals and thesis structure ........................................................................................... 5
2 Analysis of two-wheeled vehicles accidents in Portugal ............................................................ 6
2.1 Accidents distribution by vehicle type .................................................................................. 6
2.2 Analysis according to the accident cause ........................................................................... 9
2.3.1 Side on-crashes against moving vehicle .................................................................... 17
2.3.2 Loss of control ............................................................................................................. 21
2.3 Geographical and temporal factors ................................................................................... 24
2.3.1 Analysis by district ...................................................................................................... 24
2.3.2 Analysis according to the environmental conditions ................................................... 28
2.3.3. Analysis by time ......................................................................................................... 30
3 Reconstruction of real PTW accidents ..................................................................................... 33
3.1. Methodology used to reconstruct the accidents ........................................................ 33
3.1.1. Reconstruction of the scene of the accident .............................................................. 35
3.1.2. Including vehicles and defining the accidents parameters ........................................ 35
3.2. Real accidents examples.................................................................................................. 35
3.2.1. Side on-crash involving a moped and an automobile ................................................ 36
3.2.2. Side on-crash involving a motorcycle and an automobile ......................................... 38
3.2.3. Pile up involving a passengers automobile and two motorcycles.............................. 40
3.2.4. Oblique crash involving a passenger automobile and a motorcycle ......................... 43
3.2.5. Accident caused by a loss of control without involving other vehicles ...................... 45
vi
3.2.6. Motorcycle accident involving no opposite vehicle .................................................... 47
3.2.7. Front-side crash involving a motorcycle and a heavy vehicle ................................... 49
3.2.8. Pile up involving a motorcycle and several vehicles .................................................. 51
3.2.9. Motorcycle collision against the road protective systems because of a loss of control
........................................................................................................................................................ 53
3.2.10. Motorcycle collision against a rock wall ................................................................... 56
3.2.11. Motorcycle collision against the road protective system .......................................... 58
3.3 Main conclusions of the accidents ..................................................................................... 60
4 Study about the possible Portuguese CE alteration analysing the consequences of the
Spanish RGC alteration ......................................................................................................................... 61
4.1. Alteration of the Spanish RGC through the 1598/2004 order in council .......................... 62
4.2. Traffic problems in big cities ............................................................................................. 62
4.2.1. Economic costs related with traffic congestion .......................................................... 63
4.3. Register of motor vehicles in Spain and Portugal ............................................................ 64
4.3.1. Register of motorcycles in Spain and Portugal .......................................................... 64
4.3.2. Register of mopeds and cars in Spain ....................................................................... 66
4.4. Road safety in Spain and Portugal ................................................................................... 66
4.2.1. Victims of motorcycles accidents in Spain and Portugal ........................................... 68
4.5. Age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents in Spain...................................... 72
4.6. Manufacture of two-wheeled vehicles in Spain and Portugal........................................... 73
4.7. Assessment of the statistics and final solution ................................................................. 74
4.7.1 Advantages and disadvantages of riding in motorcycle ............................................. 74
4.7.2. Synthesis of the consequences of the Spanish RGC alteration ................................ 76
5 Conclusions and further research ............................................................................................ 77
5.1 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 77
5.2. Future work ....................................................................................................................... 78
Bibliography................................................................................................................................. 80
vii
List of figures
Figure 1-1: Fatalities per one million of inhabitants in Europe [1] ................................................. 1
1
Figure 1-2: Fatalities per one million of inhabitants involving PTW in EU [1] .............................. 2
Figure 1-3 a); Vehicles involved in accidents in Portugal in 2007 [3] ........................................... 3
Figure 1-4: Fatalities per one hundred victims in Portugal in 2007 [3] .......................................... 3
Figure 2-1: Road safety involving PTW in Portugal in 2006 and 2007 [3] .................................... 6
Figure 2-2: Accidents frequency by PTW category in 2007 .......................................................... 7
Figure 2-3: Fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries by PTW category in 2007 .................... 7
Figure 2-4: Fatalities by PTW category in 2007 ............................................................................ 8
Figure 2-5: Serious injuries by PTW category in 2007................................................................. 8
Figure 2-6: Slightly injuris by vehicle category in 2007 ................................................................. 9
Figure 2-7: Percentage of accidents involving bicycles and engine-powered bicycles according
to the incident type ................................................................................................................................ 10
Figure 2-8: Number of accidents involving bicycles and engine-powered bicycles by the incident
type ........................................................................................................................................................ 11
Figure 2-9: Percentage of accidents involving mopeds and motorcycles according to the
incident type .......................................................................................................................................... 12
Figure 2-10: Number of accidents involving motorcycles and mopeds according to the incident
type ........................................................................................................................................................ 13
Figure 2-11: Fatalities involving bicycles in according to the incident cause .............................. 14
Figure 2-12: Fatalities involving engine-powered bicycles according to the incident cause....... 14
Figure 2-13: Fatalities involving mopeds according to the incident cause.................................. 15
Figure 2-14: Fatalities involving < 50cc-power motorcycles according to the incident cause .... 15
Figure 2-15: Fatalities involving >50cc and power restricted to 25Kw motorcycles according to
the incident cause .................................................................................................................................. 16
Figure 2-16: Fatalities involving >50cc and non-power restricted motorcycles according to the
incident cause ........................................................................................................................................ 16
Figure 2-17: Side on-crash accidents according to the PTW type .............................................. 17
Figure 2-18: Side on –crash fatalities according to the PTW type .............................................. 18
Figure 2-19: Fatalities and side on-crashes accidents involving mopeds ................................... 18
Figure 2-20: Fatalities and side on-crash accidents involving <50cc motorcycles ..................... 19
viii
Figure 2-21: Fatalities and side on-crash accidents involving >50cc and power restricted to
25Kw motorcycles ................................................................................................................................. 19
Figure 2-22: Fatalities and side on-crash accidents involving >50cc and non-power restricted
motorcycles ........................................................................................................................................... 20
Figure 2-23: Fatalities and side on-crash accidents involving bicycles ...................................... 20
Figure 2-24: Fatalities and side on-crash accidents involving engine-powered bicycles ........... 21
Figure 2-25: Accidents caused by loss of control according to the PTW type ............................ 22
Figure 2-26: Fatalities and accidents caused by loss of control happened on bend roads ........ 22
Figure 2-27: Accidents caused by loss of control according to the roads conditions ................. 23
Figure 2-28: Two-wheeled vehicles accidents per 100.000 inhabitants by district in 2007 ........ 25
Figure 2-29: Bicycles accidents per 100.000 inhabitants by district in 2007 .............................. 25
Figure 2-30: Engine-powered bicycles accidents per 100.000 inhabitants by district in 2007 ... 26
Figure 2-31: Mopeds accidents per 100.000 inhabitants by district in 2007 ............................... 26
Figure 2-32: Accidents involving <50cc-power motorcycles per 100.000 inhabitants by district in
2007 ....................................................................................................................................................... 27
Figure 2-33: Accidents involving >50cc and power restricted to 25Kw motorcycles per 100.000
inhabitants by district in 2007 ................................................................................................................ 27
Figure 2-34: Accidents involving >50cc and non power restricted motorcycles per 100.000
inhabitants in each district in 2007 ........................................................................................................ 28
Figure 2-35: Accidents according to lights conditions ................................................................. 29
Figure 2-36: Accidents according to weather conditions ........................................................... 29
Figure 2-37: Accidents according to the period of the day.......................................................... 30
Figure 2-38: Accidents according to the days of the week ......................................................... 31
Figure 2-39: Accidents according to the months of the year ...................................................... 31
Figure 3-1: a) Multi-body pedestrian used by PC-Crash............................................................. 33
Figure 3-2: Inertial space coordinate system and body fixed coordinate system ....................... 34
Figure 3-3: Database including all the defining values for the vehicles ...................................... 35
Figure 3-4: Scene of the accident 1 ............................................................................................ 36
Figure 3-5: Simulation results of the accident 1 .......................................................................... 37
Figure 3-7: Vehicles damaged parts in the accident 2 ................................................................ 40
Figure 3-8: Scene of the accident 3 ........................................................................................... 41
Figure 3-10: Simulation results of the accident 4 ........................................................................ 44
Figure 3-11: Accident 5 scene .................................................................................................... 45
ix
Figure 3-17: Damages suffered in the vehicles as a consequence of the accident ................... 53
Figure 3-20: Accident 10 scene .................................................................................................. 56
Figure 3-21: Simulation results of the accident 10 ...................................................................... 57
Figure 3-22: Accident 11 scene .................................................................................................. 58
Figure 3-23: Simulation results of the accident 11 ...................................................................... 59
Figure 4-1: Vehicles distribution by type in Spain and Portugal in 2006 [26] [27] ...................... 62
Figure 4-2: Costs in Euros related to the traffic congestion per 1000 people/kilometre and 1000
tone/kilometre by country [2] ................................................................................................................. 63
Figure 4-3: Motorcycle registration by power category in Spain [26] .......................................... 64
Figure 4-4: Motorcycles registration by power category in 2003 compared with 2006 in Spain. 65
Figure 4-5: Motorcycles registration in Spain and Portugal [26] [29] .......................................... 65
Figure 4-6: Register of mopeds and cars in Spain [26]............................................................... 66
Figure 4-7: Rate of fatalities per one million of inhabitants in Spain and Portugal [1] ................ 67
Figure 4-8: Rate of fatalities in Portugal according to the vehicle type ....................................... 67
Figure 4-9: Rates of fatalities in Spain according to the vehicle type ......................................... 68
Figure 4-10: Rate of fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries in the Spanish roads [26] ...... 68
Figure 4-11: Rate of fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries inside urban roads in Spain .. 69
Figure 4-12: Number of victims per one million of motorcycles in Spain according to the road
type ........................................................................................................................................................ 70
Figure 4-13: Number of fatalities per one million of motorcycles in Spain according to the road
type ........................................................................................................................................................ 70
Figure 4-14: Number of fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries in roads and urban roads in
Portugal [3] ........................................................................................................................................... 71
Figure 4-15: Victims and fatalities per one million of motorcycles in Portugal ............................ 71
Figure 4-16: Age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents in Spain ............................ 72
Figure 4-17: Age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents in 2003 compared with 2006
in Spain .................................................................................................................................................. 73
Figure 4-18: Manufacture of PTW in Spain and Portugal [29] .................................................... 74
x
List of tables
Table 2-1: Accidents frequency by PTW category in 2007 [11] .................................................... 7
Table 2-2: Accidents, population and accidents per 100.000 inhabitants according to the district
in 2007 ................................................................................................................................................... 24
Table 3-1: Accident 1 details ....................................................................................................... 36
Table 3-8; Accident 8 details ....................................................................................................... 51
Table 3-9; Accident 9 details ....................................................................................................... 54
Table 3-10: Accident 10 details ................................................................................................... 56
Table 3-11: Accident 11 details ................................................................................................... 58
Table 4-1: Rates of fatalities involving car´s users in Spain and Portugal .................................. 67
Table 4-2: Motorcycles registration and road and urban road victims in Spain [26] [29] ............ 69
Table 4-3: Motorcycles registration and road and urban road fatalities in Spain ........................ 70
Table 4-4: Registration of motorcycles, total victims and total fatalities in Portugal [1] [3] ......... 71
Table 4-5: Age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents in Spain [29] ........................ 72
Table 4-6: Advantages and disadvantages of running in motorcycle compared with running in
car .......................................................................................................................................................... 75
xi
1 Introduction
This present chapter presents the motivation of the thesis, whose main target is the study of
PTW accidents, focusing the project in the current Portuguese situation. The organization of the thesis
and its aims are presented at the end of the chapter.
1.1. Motivation
Road safety is one of the main problems in developed countries. A total of 42,955 European
citizens died in traffic accidents in 2006 [1]. According to ETSC [2], traffic accidents are the main
cause of death and hospital admissions for younger-45-years-old European citizens. In addition, 3,5
million of accidents annually take place in European roads, having an associated cost of 166 trillions
of Euros. The economic losses associated to these traffic accidents represents about a total of 2% of
the European GDP.
European road safety has improved in almost all the countries for the last years.
400 Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
350 Cyprus
Czech
Republic
Denmark
300
Estonia
Finland
France
250
Germany
Greece
Holland
200
Hungary
Ireland
150 Italy
Latvia
Lituania
100 Luxembourg
Malta
Polland
50
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
0
Slovenia
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Spain
Figure 1-1: Fatalities per one million of inhabitants in Europe [1]
1
1. Introduction
Traffic accidents are still one of the main causes of death in Portugal. From 1991 to 2006, the total
number of fatalities has decreased from 3,217 to 969. In spite of managing to decrease the rate of
fatalities in a percentage of 69, 87% due to greater citizen awareness and other measures, Portugal is
still one of the European countries with a high rate of fatalities, mainly compared with the old EU
formed by 15 countries.
Portugal has been also able to notably reduce its rate of fatalities involving PTW. The highest
1
rate of fatalities in the UE in 1996 was covered by Portugal. In spite of decreasing a percentage of 59,
7% in the last years, the Portuguese rate of road fatalities is still too high, so it is important to find
about how the accidents happen to try to solve them.
90
Belgium
80 Denmark
Greece
70
Spain
60
France
50
Austria
40 Portugal
Finland
30
Sweden
20
UK
10 Italy
Ireland
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Holland
1
Figure 1-2: Fatalities per one million of inhabitants involving PTW in EU [1]
PTW accidents covered a total of 18% of the total accidents happened in Portugal in 2007,
being cars accidents the most common type of accident. Nevertheless, according to Figure 1-3 b),
motorcycle is the most common type of accident per one thousand of vehicles in Portugal, being 16
motorcycles involved in accidents per one thousand of motorcycle. Thus, motorcycles riders had a
35% higher possibility of suffering an accident than cars, in Portugal in 2007.
1
Old EU, 15 countries excepting Germany
2
1. Introduction
3% 30
26
7% 25
8% 4%
20
17
15 13
78% 10 8
5
Motorcycles
Mopeds 0
Heavy vehicles Motorcycles Mopeds Heavy Cars
Cars vehicles
Bicyles
Figure 1-3 a); Vehicles involved in accidents in Portugal in 2007 [3]
b); Vehicles involved in accidents per each one thousand of vehicles in Portugal in 2007 [3]
PTW users are completely exposed to suffer injuries once the accident has taken place, due to
the lack of external body work. Therefore, the probability of suffering serious injuries or dying is much
higher than for the other typologies of vehicles. Fatalities per one hundred victims in Portugal in 2007
are shown Figure 1-4. The users whose vehicles had non-external bodywork are the ones which a
higher rate of fatality once the accidents has taken place, excepting heavy vehicles.
4,5 4
4
3,5 3
3
2,5 2 2
2
1,5 1 1
1
0,5
0
Pedestrian Cars Heavy vehicles Mopeds Motorcycles Bicycles
Figure 1-4: Fatalities per one hundred victims in Portugal in 2007 [3]
So PTW users are really vulnerable to have an accident due to the difficulty of being seen by
the other vehicles categories. Furthermore, they are completely exposed to the road conditions, so the
accidents consequences for PTW users are more serious. Therefore, it is actually important to find
about why the accidents happens to be avoided in the future.
.
3
1. Introduction
1.2. Bibliography revision

In these days of increasing congestion on our roads, PTW continue to provide a valuable
contribution to mobility in Europe. Their relatively small size and low cost enable them to blend
efficiently into the traffic flow while needing less space compared to other vehicles. However, riders
form one of the most vulnerable groups of road users and road accidents involving injuries to them [4]
are a major social concern. Their relative risk of death on EU roads is higher than for car occupants
[5]. Two-wheeled vehicles rider casualties in Western Europe declined by 25% from 1980-90, and by
an additional 20% from 1990 to 1995. However, since then, the downward trend has stopped. A
serious problem for the powered two-wheelers industry is the lack of detailed statistical data on the
current accidents. PTW characteristics have changed for the last years, so the accidents involving
these kind of vehicles have also changed [6]. For instance, motorcycles have increased in cost,
engine, size and power, suspension systems have changed drastically, there are new brake systems,
etc. Motorcyclists have also changed; currently, the average motorcyclist is 38 years old while in 1980
the average was 24. Also, more women are riding motorcycles than ever before.
The cause of the majority of two-wheelers vehicles accidents in Europe is human error, [5]
within the traffic environment, due to lack of driver attention, temporary view obstructions or the low
conspicuity of the riders. Rider´s age is directly related to the probabilities to suffer an accident.
Unlicensed two wheeled vehicles operators who were illegally riding were also found to be at greater
risk of being involved in an accident when compared to licensed riders. In fact, young riders with no
licence, or only a provisional licence, seem to lack the skills needed and to take more risks, which
contributes to their increased likelihood of the accidents. [7]. The University of Southern California [4]
published a report which affirms that more than half of the accident-involved motorcycle riders had
less than five moths experience. Motorcycle riders in these accidents showed significant collision
avoidance problems. Most rides would over-brake and skid the rear wheel, and under-brake the front
wheel greatly reducing collision avoidance deceleration. Driver´s age influence the accidents statistics
too. Middle aged drivers are less responsible than younger drivers for crashes involving motorcycles
[8]; older drivers too are more responsible for crashes than middle age drivers, this being probably
linked to some perceptive cognitive and mobility deficits that frequently affect elderly people.
Ridding in motorcycle with an acceptable level of safety [9] require skills, knowledge, a focused
attitude and a conscious behaviour. Thus, no one should start riding a motorcycle without having
undertaken structured, relevant and cost-effective basic training. Given riders [10] the knowledge
necessary to identify and avoid critical situations and maximise control of the motorcycle is the
challenge for training-based interventions. In addition, because of the stability and handling
characteristics, the control skills needed for motorcycling are inherently more demanding than those
needed for car driving, especially in emergencies. The conspicuity problem appears to be partly
associated with car drivers learning visual strategies that are not very effective at detecting
motorcycles. So the key is to make the car users aware of the vulnerability of riders. Research shows
[8] that drivers who also ride motorcycles, and those with family members or close friends who ride
motorcycles, are more likely to observe motorcyclists and less likely to collide with them. This more
than indicates that the most important factor causing car drivers to overlook motorcyclists is that the
4
1. Introduction
drivers´ minds are not set to observe motorcycles. One possible explanation may be [9] that the car
driver does not have mental perception of a collision with lighter vehicles like motorcycles, mopes or
bicycles being an impending danger to him personally, feeling protected by the bodywork car. Car
drivers can see motorcyclists, whom they might otherwise overlook, if they are mentally trained to do
so. Thus, better education of all drivers is the single most important action.
1.3. Goals and thesis structure

The primary targets of this thesis are to analyze the accidents which happened in Portugal in
2007 to find about the most often and the most fatal type of accidents, carrying out reconstructions of
real traffic accidents involving PTW. In addition, one of the aims of the project is analysing if Portugal
should change its Codigo da Estrada allowing the driving of motorcycles covered by the A1 driving
licence to those drivers who have the type B driving licence, like other European countries have
already done.
The thesis is organized in the following way;
- In chapter 2 the database of PTW accidents taken place in Portugal in 2007 is analyzed, as a
trying to determine the most common causes of accidents involving PTW, as well as the most
conflicting zones of the country, the most dangerous months, etc.
- In chapter 3 real cases of accidents involving two-wheeled vehicles are reconstructed to find
about the causes which originated the accidents.
- In chapter 4 if Portugal should alter its Código da Estrada allowing the driving of A1
motorcycles holding the type B driving licence is studied. Therefore, the Spanish consequences of the
RGC alteration are analysed, comparing them with the current Portuguese situation.
- In chapter 5 conclusions as well as suggestion for future reports are introduced.
5
2 Analysis of two-wheeled vehicles
accidents in Portugal
The most important subject to reduce the traffic fatalities in a country is to find about why the
accidents happen and which the most common type of accidents are. The aim of the present chapter
is to present a detailed analysis of PTW accidents in Portugal in 2007. This has been possible thanks
to the 2007 database provided by “Direcção Geral de Viação” [11]. All the PTW accidents happened in
Portugal in 2007 has been analysed in the current chapter, which are a total of 9807 accidents. Every
accident contains information about how the accident happened, including time, place, road type and
more details.
The figures for 2006-2007 are presented in Figure 2-1.
10000 8950 8953
8000
6000
2006
4000 2007
2000 1006 906

240 219
0
Fatalities Seriously injuries Slightly injuries
Figure 2-1: Road safety involving PTW in Portugal in 2006 and 2007 [3]
Fatalities and serious injuries have moderately decreased while slight injuries have remained
almost constant comparing both years. The total amount of victims involved in PTW accidents in 2007
decreased compared with 2006.
2.1 Accidents distribution by vehicle type

PTW are divided into several groups. They can be engine-powered vehicles or human-powered
vehicles. Engine-powered vehicles will be divided by their power and by their engine capacity.
Mopeds were closely involved in half of the accidents in 2007, covering a rate of 45, 19%.
Accidents involving >50cc and non-power restricted motorcycles and bicycles were involved in an
important percentage of the total accidents, covering a rate of 20, 16% and 14,11% respectively. It is
obvious than the accidents frequency depends on the vehicle fleet. Mopeds fleet [12] is more than 2.5
times higher than all motorcycles fleet together, so a moped rider has less possibilities of being
involved on an accident than a motorcycle rider.
6
2. Analysis of PTW accidents in Portugal
Table 2-1: Accidents frequency by PTW category in 2007 [11]

Type Frequency Rate
Moped 4435 45,19%
<50cc motorcycles 625 6,37%
>50cc and power restricted to
o 25kW motorcycles 1289 13,15%
>50cc and non-power restricted motorcycles 2019 20,6%
Bicycle 1383 14,1%
Engine- powered bicycle 56 0,57%
Total 9807
14,11% 0,57%
45,19%
20,60%
13,15%
6,38%
Moped
Motorcycle <=50cc
Motorcycle >50 cc
Motorcycle >50cc >25 kW
Bicycle
Engine-powered bicycle
Figure 2-2: Accidents frequency by PTW category in 2007
Road safety is not only measured by the total number of victims. To differentiate victims by
category is also important.. Thus, total number of victims has been separated in slightly injured,
injur
seriously injured and fatalities,, shown
show in Figure 2-3. It highlights the high number of mopeds slight
injuries,, compared with moped fatalities and serious injuries.
65
Engine-powered bicycle 2
1
1367
Bicycle 103
30
2058
Motorcycle >50cc >25 kW 287
100 Slightly injuries
1320 Seriously injuries
Motorcycle >50 cc 162
33 Fatalities
641
Motorcycle <=50cc 60
9
4517
Moped 393
62
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Figure 2-3: Fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries by PTW category in 2007
7
The percentage
centage of fatalities, serious and slight injuries divided by the PTW category is shown
from Figure 2-4 to Figure 2-6,
6, to find about how the percentages are divided into the PTW categories.
50,00% 42,55%
40,00%
26,38%
30,00%
14,04% 12,77%
20,00%
3,83%
10,00% 0,43%
0,00%
Moped 26,38%
Motorcycle <=50cc 3,38%
Motorcycle >50cc 14,04%
Motorcycle >50cc >25Kw 42,55%
Bicycle 12,77%
Engine-powered
powered bicycle 0,43%
Figure 2.4: Fatalities by PTW category in 2007
50,00%
39,03%
40,00%
28,50%
30,00%
16,09%
20,00% 10,23%
5,96%
10,00% 0,20%
0,00%
Moped 39,03%
Motorcycle
ycle >50cc >25Kw 28,50%
Bicycle 10,23%
Engine-powered
Figure 2-4: Serious injuries by PTW category in 2007
8
45,32%
50,00%
40,00%
30,00% 20,65%
13,24% 13,71%
20,00%
6,43%
10,00% 0,65%
0,00%
Moped 45,32%
Motorcycle >50cc >25Kw 20,65%
Bicycle 13,71%
Engine-powered
Figure 2-5: Slightly injuries by vehicle category in 2007
The greater rate of fatalities is covered by >50cc and non-power restricted motorcycles,
motorcycles
representing a 42, 55% of total fatalities.
fatalities However, mopeds presents the highest rate of seriously
injured and slightly injured, covering a rate of 39,03% and 45,32% respectively. Slightly injured and
seriously injured numbers are not so significant in >50cc and non-power
power restricted motorcycles
compared with mopeds.. Thus, it is possible to affirm that, even
even mopeds accidents rate is the highest
one, the consequences of these accidents are not as serious as they are in >50cc and non-power
non
restricted motorcycles.. This is due to >50cc and non-power restricted motorcycles are designed to run
in motorways, where vehicles can run in much higher velocity than in urban roads,
roads so the accidents
consequences are more serious.. On the contrary, running in motorways is forbidden to mopeds.
mopeds
2.2 Analysis according to the accident cause

Analysis by accident cause has been divided by PTW category. Bicycles and engine-powered
engine
bicycles have been considered on the one hand and motorcycles
motorcycles and mopeds on the other hand to
avoid over-saturated figures.
According to Figure 2-6,, side on-crash against a moving vehicle is the most usual cause of
engine-powered bicycles accidents,
accident covering a rate of 46,43% of the totall number of accidents. This
type of accidents is followed by loss of control,
control covering a rate of 19,64% of the total accidents.
Side on-crash against a moving vehicle is also the most common cause of bicycles accidents,
covering a rate off 44,03% of the total
tot accidents. However, this sort of accident is followed by head on-
crash accidents instead of loss of control,
control covering a rate of 14,17% of the total bicycle accidents
happened in 2007.
9
Animal knocked down 0,00%

0,07%
Pedestrian knocked down 1,79%

2,82%
Pile up collision 0,00%

0,07%
Hit and run 0,00%

4,63%
Collision involving stopped vehicles or obstacles 1,79%

5,35%
Collision involving other situations 5,36%

5,21%
Front on-crash
crash involving moving vehicles 7,14%
14,17%
46,43%
Side on-crash
12,50%
Back on-crash 11,79%
3,57%
Loss of control involving stopped vehicles or obstacles 1,30%
0,00%
Loss of control involving retention systems 0,00%
1,79%
Loss of control and run 0,22%
0,00%
Loss of control going through the retention systems 0,07%
0,00%
Loss of control and turn over 0,51%
19,64%
Loss of control 8,89%
0,00%
Loss of control without involving retention systems 0,87%
0,00% 5,00% 10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00% 30,00% 35,00% 40,00% 45,00% 50,00%
Engine-powered
powered bicycle Bicycle
Figure 2-6: Percentage of accidents involving bicycles and engine-powered bicycles according to the incident
type
According to Figure 2-7, engine-powered

engine bicycles fatalities are quite
uite lower than bicycles
fatalities. This is due to the fleet of engine-powered
engine bicycles is quite lower than bicycles fleet, so the
less users the less possibilities of having an accident.
10
Animal knocked down 1

0
Pedestrian knocked down 39

1
Pile up collision 1
0
Hit and run 64

0
Collision involving stopped vehicles or obstacles 74

1
Collision involving other situations 72

3
Front on-crash
crash involving moving vehicles 196
4
609
Side on-crash
163
Back on-crash 7
18
Loss of control involving stopped vehicles or obstacles 2
0
Loss of control involving retention systems 0
3
Loss of control and run 1
1
Loss of control going through the retention systems 0
7
Loss of control and turn over 0
123
Loss of control 11
12
Loss of control without involving retention systems 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Bicycle Engine-powered bicycle
Figure 2-7: Number of accidents involving

involv bicycles and engine-powered bicycles by the incident type
Figure 2-8 shows that side on-crash

on is the most usual motorcycles and mopeds accident cause,
covering a rate of 30-34%
34% of the total number of accidents,
accidents being followed by loss of control,
control covering
a rate of 20-25% off the total number of accidents.
accidents Next position in the list is head on-crash
on and back
on-crash,
crash, depending on the sort of vehicle.
These different types of vehicles present a so similar rate of accidents because
becau they have many
characteristics in common. All of them are engine-powered
engine vehicles, two-wheeled
wheeled vehicles and they
have similar sizes, so they run in a similar manner.
11
0,7%
0,4%
Animal knocked down 0,5%
0,3%
3,1%
3,9%
Pedestrian knocked down 2,6%
2,9%
0,7%
0,5%
Pile up collision 0,3%
0,1%
1,4%
1,4%
Hit and run 1,6%
1,6%
4,0%
3,2%
Collision involving stopped vehicles or obstacles 3,7%
4,0%
3,4%
3,6%
Collision involving other situations 4,2%
3,0%
9,7%
12,5%
Front on-crash
13,4%
30,8%
34,0%
Side on-crash
32,9%
10,9%
8,0%
Back on-crash
on 12,5%
8,7%
3,8%
3,6%
Loss of control involving stopped vehicles or obstacles 3,7%
2,9%
1,7%
0,9%
Loss of control involving retention systems 0,6%
0,4%
1,4%
0,5%
Loss of control and run 0,2%
0,2%
0,4%
0,5%
Loss of control going through the retention systems 0,2%
0,2%
1,3%
1,4%
Loss of control and turn over 0,2%
1,9%
23,0%
22,7%
Loss of control 20,2%
24,6%
3,8%
2,9%
Loss of control without involving retention systems 2,2%
2,7%
0 0,05 0,1 0,15 0,2 0,25 0,3 0,35
Motorcycle >50cc >25 KW Motorcycle >50cc Motorcycle <50cc Moped
Figure 2-8: Percentage of accidents

ccidents involving mopeds and motorcycles according to the incident type
12
Mopeds present the highest rate of incidents for all the causes,, highlighting in side on-crash
on and
loss of control, compared with the others PTW categories.
14
5
15
64
50
130
14
6
Pile up collision 2
5
29
18
Hit and run 10
72
81
41
177
70
47
134
199
161
Front on-crash
595
630
438
Side on-crash
1459
222
103
Back on-crash
on 78
385
77
47
130
34
12
16
29
6
9
8
6
10
26
18
85
470
293
Loss of control 126
1089
78
38
119
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
Motorcycle >50cc >25 KW Motorcycle >50cc Motorcycle <50cc Moped

Figure 2-9: Number of accidents involving motorcycles and mopeds according to the incident type
The number of fatalities according the PTW category and the

the accident cause are shown from
Figure 2-10to Figure 2-15.
13
Pile up collision 0
Hit and run 2
Front on-crash
Side on-crash
Back on-crash
on 15
Loss of control 2
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Figure 2-10: Fatalities involving bicycles in according to the incident cause

Pile up collision 0
Hit and run 0
Front on-crash
Side on-crash
Back on-crash
on 0
Loss of control 0
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1
Figure 2-11: Fatalities involving engine-powered

engine bicycles according to the incident cause
14
Pile up collision 0
Hit and run 1
Front on-crash
Side on-crash
Back on-crash
on 9
Loss of control 18
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Figure 2-12: Fatalities involving mopeds according to the incident cause
Pile up collision 0
Hit and run 0
Front on-crash
Side on-crash
Back on-crash
on 0
Loss of control going through the retention systems
Loss of control 4
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4
Figure 2-13: Fatalities involving < 50cc-power

50cc motorcycles according to the incident cause
15
Pile up collision 0
Hit and run 0
Front on-crash
Side on-crash
Back on-crash
on 3
Loss of control 7
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Figure 2-14: Fatalities involving >50cc and power restricted to 25Kw motorcycles according
ing to the incident cause
Pile up collision 1
Hit and run 0
Front on-crash
Side on-crash
Back on-crash
on 11
Loss of control 19
0 5 10 15 20 25
Figure 2-15: Fatalities involving

g >50cc and non-power
non restricted motorcycles according to the incident cause
16
The leading causes of fatalities are side on-crashes against moving vehicles
hicles and accidents by
loss of control. A big percentage of the side on-crash
on crash collision are due to PTW are not seen by car
users [10], due to their narrowness and acceleration give them the ability to overtake and to filter past
other traffic so if cars user
ser are not paying attention enough to the traffic conditions, they could not see
the PTW users. Loss
oss of control is quite usual in PTW as a consequence of their own characteristics. A
PTW can easily become unstable and capsize if braking, accelerating or a slippery road surface
causes a wheel to lose adhesion, being particularly
particular critical when the machine is taking a bend.
bend Braking
can also cause a motorcycle to change its line on a bend.
Motorcycles accidents caused by loss of control were the leading cause of fatal accidents,
without including >50cc and non--power restricted-power motorcycles. However, side on-crashes
on
against moving vehicle were the most usual type of accident, so accidents consequences by loss of
control are more seriously than side on-crashes
on consequences.
Generally, side on-crash and accidents happened by loss of control are the most common
co type
of accidents for each vehicle category.
category. Thus, they deserve to be studied separately.
2.3.1 Side on-crashes

crashes against moving vehicle
Side on-crashes are the most usual cause of accident in PTW and one of the most common
causes of death. Several different sorts of accidents are covered by side on-crashes
crashes accident;
accident
• Collision involving
ing the PTW front and one side of the second vehicle
• Collision involving the PTW side part and the front or back of the second vehicle
• Collision involving both sides from both vehicles
The Figure 2-16 shows how the total amount of side on-crash
on crash accidents happened in Portugal
in 2007 are
re divided according to the PTW type.
43,26%
45,00%
40,00%
35,00%
30,00%
18,68%
25,00% 18,06%
20,00%
12,99%
15,00%
10,00% 6,26%
5,00% 0,77%
0,00%
Moped Motorcycle Motorcycle >50 Motorcycle >50cc Bicycle Engine-powered
<=50cc cc >25 kW bicycle
Figure 2-16: Side on-crash

crash accidents according to the PTW type
Mopeds were involved almost in one half of the total side on-crash
crash accidents for the last year,
being followed by >50cc and non-power
non power restricted motorbikes and by bicycles. Both were closely
involved in the 18% of the total side on-crashes
on accidents. However, engine-powered
powered bicycle were
involved in less than one percent of the total side on-crash
on accident, as a consequence of their low
fleet and their low rate of accidents compared with the others PTW categories.
17
Nevertheless, >50cc and non-power

non power restricted motorcycles were involved in a 42, 59% of the
total fatalities caused by side on--crashes accidents. On the contrary, mopeds were involved in just a
rate of 25,93% of total fatalities caused by side on-crash.
on crash. Thus, consequences of side on-crashes
on
accidents are quite more serious if >50cc-power
>50cc and non-power
power restricted motorcycles are involved
instead of mopeds. This is due to this kind of motorcycles can run at high velocities and they can run
in motorways, what it is forbidden to mopeds.
50,00% 42,59%
40,00%
25,93%
30,00%
16,67%
20,00% 11,11%
10,00% 1,85% 1,85%
0,00%
Moped Motorcycle Motorcycle >50 Motorcycle Bicycle Engine-powered
<=50cc cc >50cc >25 kW bicycle
Figure 2-17: Side on –crash

crash fatalities according to the PTW type
Accidents caused by side--on crash are strongly influenced by the type of road. The necessary
condition to involve an accident caused by side-on crash is that vehicles have to run in different
directions, so there are kinds of road intersections which can favour them due to their geometry.
Fatalities according to the PTW category and the road geometry are shown from Figure 2-18 to
Figure 2-23.
2
Non-defined 157
Outside 3
intersection 402
0
Brake lane 5
Accelaration 0
lane 10
0
Traffic circle 130
Fatalities
0
Exit ramp 2
0 Accidents
Entrance ramp 2
Grade 0
crossing 2
4
Intersection 447
5
Crossroad 301
0 100 200 300 400 500
Figure 2-18: Fatalities and side on-crashes

crashes accidents involving mopeds
18
0
Non-defined 33
Outside 0
intersection 62
0
Brake lane 1
Accelaration 0
lane 2
0
Traffic circle 0
0 Fatalities
Exit ramp 0
0 Accidents
Entrance ramp 0
Grade 0
crossing 9
1
Intersection 63
0
Crossroad 41
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Figure 2-19: Fatalities and side on-crash

crash accidents
accident involving <50cc motorcycles
1
Non-defined 57
Outside 1
intersection 120
0
Brake lane 1
Accelaration 0
lane 2
0
Traffic circle 14
0
Fatalities
Exit ramp 1
0 Accidents
Entrance ramp 0
Grade 0
crossing 0
4
Intersection 154
0
Crossroad 88
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

crash accidents involving >50cc
0cc and power restricted to 25Kw motorcycles
19
2
Non-defined 82
Outside 10
intersection 222
0
Brake lane 1
Accelaration 0
lane 6
0
Traffic circle 31
0 Fatalities
Exit ramp 1
Accidents
1
Entrance ramp 7
Grade 0
crossing 0
6
Intersection 183
2
Crossroad 97
0 50 100 150 200 250

crash accidents involving >50cc and non-power
non power restricted motorcycles
1
Non-defined 67
Outside 2
intersection 197
0
Brake lane 4
Accelaration 0
lane 5
1
Traffic circle 52 Fatalities
0
Exit ramp 0 Accidents
1
Entrance ramp 2
Grade 0
crossing 0
2
Intersection 174
2
Crossroad 108
0 50 100 150 200

crash accidents involving bicycles
20
0
Non-defined 3
Outside 0
intersection 9
0
Brake lane 0
Accelaration 0
lane 1
0
Traffic circle 2
Fatalities
0
Exit ramp 0
Accidents
0
Entrance ramp 0
Grade 0
crossing 0
1
Intersection 8
0
Crossroad 3
0 2 4 6 8 10

crash accidents involving engine-powered bicycles
Fatalities and accidents mostly happen outside intersection. Road network have a large
number of intersections.
s. However, road network is generally formed by straight
ight stretches or curves
without any intersection. This happens even more in motorways. So the less intersections the more
possibilities of outside intersection accidents
accident exist.
Outside intersection accidents are followed by inside crossroads accidents
ents or inside intersection
accidents. This is due to crossroads and intersections are the perfect roads to involve a side on-crash
on
accident. Vehicles run with different directions in this kind of roads, so a side on-crash
on crash accident is the
most common type of accident.
2.3.2 Loss of control

Accidents caused by loss of control were the second leading cause of accident in 2007 and one
of the leading causes of fatal accidents.
accident . Therefore, paying attention in this kind of accident is
deserved.
Mopeds were involved
lved in more than one half of the total accidents caused by loss of control for
the last year, being followed by >50cc and non-power
non power restricted motorbikes, which were involved in
the 22% of the total accidents caused by loss of control.
21
60,00%
51,50%
50,00%
40,00%
30,00%
22,00%
20,00% 13,00%
10,00% 5,90% 5,00%

0,50%
0,00%
Moped Motorcycle Motorcycle Motorcycle Bicycle Engine-powered
<50cc >50cc >50cc >25 KW bicycle
Figure 2-24: Accidents caused by loss of control

contro according to the PTW type
Accidents caused by loss of control often happen in traffic. They are happened when the rider
do not pay attention enough to traffic, maybe because of focusing
focusing to another place, using the electrical
vehicle devices, etc. When attention enough is not paid to traffic, riders are not so able to follow roads
geometry. Thus, roads geometry changes could increase the total number of accidents caused by loss
of control. Furthermore, as it was mentioned in the Chapter 2.2, a PTW can easily become unstable if
braking, accelerating or a slippery road surface causes a wheel to lose adhesion, being particularly
critical in bends.
The Figure 2-25 shows the percentage of accidents and fatalities caused by loss of control
while the rider was taking a bend.
60,00% 55,6%
52,6%
42,1%
50,00%
43,0%
40,0%
40,00% 33,6% 34,9%
Accidents
25,0% 27,3%
30,00% 24,4%
Fatalities
20,00%
10,00%
0,0% 0,0%
0,00%
Moped Motorcycle Motorcycle Motorcycle Bicycle Powered
<=50cc >50 cc >50cc >25 engine
kW bicycle
Figure 2-25: Fatalities and accidents caused by loss of control happened on bend roads
Among 24% and 43% of accidents caused by loss of control happened while the riders were
taking a bend, which means that accidents happen mostly in straight stretches.
22
Fatalities caused by loss of control normally happened in straight stretches, excepting for
mopeds and >50cc and non-power
power restriction. In these PTW categories, more than the half fatalities
caused by loss of control happened while the rider was taking a bend. Thus, accidents consequences
happened in curves are more seriously than accidents consequences happened in straight stretches
for this kind of riders. No fatalities happened in bends involving bicycles and engine-powered
engine bicycles,
due to their lack of representation in accidents in general.
Once riders have not paid attention enough to
to traffic and a dangerous situation is coming,
sudden vehicles movements could come. Therefore, roads conditions can really determine
deter the result
of the accident, due to sudden changes in road surface friction [10] provokes instability in one-track
one
vehicles.
90,00%
80,00%
80,97%
70,00%
60,00%
50,00%
40,00%
30,00%
20,00%
10,00% 0,33% 0,33% 4,21%
0,00% 0,47% 1,70% 4,17% 7,62%
0,28%
Figure 2-26: Accidents caused by loss of control according to the roads conditions
Accidents caused by loss of control were mostly happened in perfect

ct road conditions, it means
dried and cleaned roads. Bad road conditions had influence just on a short rate of losses of control
accidents. This short rate was mostly formed by wet road conditions and sandy road conditions.
23
2.3 Geographical and temporal factors
2.3.1 Analysis by district

Portugal is formed by 18 different districts. Roads conditions, drivers and riders behaviours and
size population are quite different in all of them. First of all, it is necessary to know population data per
district to determine which road safety level is in every district.
District Total Population in Accidents/100.000
accidents 2007 [13] inhabitants
Aveiro 1157 734.195 157,59
Beja 141 153.091 93,41
Braga 627 862.191 72,72
Bragança 72 142.091 50,67
Castelo Branco 135 199.094 67,81
Coimbra 652 434.311 150,12
Évora 132 169.788 77,74
Faro 892 426.386 209,20
Guarda 118 172.304 68,48
Leiria 709 479.499 147,86
Lisboa 1760 2.232.700 78,83
Portalegre 65 118.141 55,02
Porto 1396 1.820.752 76,66
Santarém 606 466.011 130,04
Setúbal 638 853.445 74,76
Viana do Castelo 193 251.676 76,69
Vila Real 129 217.338 59,35
Viseu 383 393.909 97,23
Total 9807 10.126.922
Table 2-2: Accidents, population and accidents per 100.000 inhabitants according to the district in 2007
Accidents per every 100.000 inhabitants are real data to consider road safety per district. The
highest accidents rate is covered by Faro district, happening 209,2 accidents per 100.000 inhabitants.
Faro district is followed by Aveiro district, covering a rate of 157,59 accidents per 100.000 inhabitants,
Coimbra and Leiria. This could be due to the existence of the IP5 motorways, which is considered one
of the most dangerous motorways in the world [14]. On the contrary, the safest Portuguese district
was Bragança, covering a rate of 50,67 accidents per 100.000 inhabitants. Bragança district is closely
followed by Portalegre district, which is the second safest district. This could be due to the lack of
highways in both disctricts.
Figure 2-28 until Figure 2-33 present the accidents rate per 100.000 inhabitants in each district
and according to the PTW category.
24
Viseu 97,23
Vila Real 59,35
Viana do Castelo 76,69
Setúbal 74,76
Santarém 130,04
Porto 75,68
Portalegre 55,02
Lisboa 78,83
Leiria 147,86
Guarda 68,48
Faro 209,20
Évora 77,74
Coimbra 150,12
Castelo Branco 67,81
Bragança 50,67
Braga 72,72
Beja 93,41
Aveiro 157,59
0 50 100 150 200 250
Figure 2-27: Two-wheeled

wheeled vehicles accidents per 100.000
1 inhabitants by district in 2007
Viseu 10,66
Vila Real 5,06
Setúbal 13,12
Santarém 21,24
Porto 9,06
Portalegre 8,46
Lisboa 7,75
Leiria 26,07
Guarda 6,96
Faro 31,43
Évora 7,66
Coimbra 23,26
Bragança 7,04
Braga 9,51
Beja 13,72
Aveiro 31,46
0 10 20 30 40
Figure 2-28: Bicycles accidents

nts per 100.000 inhabitants by district in 2007
25
Viseu 0,25
Vila Real 0,00
Setúbal 0,35
Santarém 1,07
Porto 0,49
Portalegre 0,85
Lisboa 0,09
Leiria 1,04
Guarda 0,58
Faro 1,88
Évora 0,00
Coimbra 0,69
Castelo Branco 1,00
Bragança 0,00
Braga 0,81
Beja 0,00
Aveiro 0,95
0 0,5 1 1,5 2
Figure 2-29: Engine-powered

powered bicycles accidents per 100.000 inhabitants by district in 2007
Viseu 57,37
Vila Real 29,45
Setúbal 24,37
Santarém 67,17
Porto 34,27
Portalegre 31,32
Lisboa 19,84
Leiria 76,54
Guarda 34,82
Faro 100,61
Évora 40,05
Coimbra 79,67
Bragança 23,22
Braga 35,49
Beja 39,85
Aveiro 93,84
0 50 100 150
Figure 2-30: Mopeds accidents

nts per 100.000 inhabitants by district in 2007
26
Viseu 4,06
Vila Real 4,60
Setúbal 4,57
Santarém 7,08
Porto 8,18
Portalegre 0,85
Lisboa 5,78
Leiria 6,67
Guarda 2,90
Faro 11,73
Évora 2,36
Coimbra 8,52
Castelo Branco 4,02
Bragança 2,82
Braga 4,41
Beja 0,65
Aveiro 6,40
0 5 10 15
Figure 2-31: Accidents involving <50cc-power

<50cc motorcycles per 100.000 inhabitants by district in 2007
Viseu 11,42
Vila Real 8,28
Setúbal 11,01
Santarém 16,09
Porto 11,04
Portalegre 3,39
Lisboa 14,42
Leiria 15,02
Guarda 6,38
Faro 21,58
Évora 12,96
Coimbra 17,04
Bragança 9,15
Braga 9,86
Beja 18,94
Aveiro 11,03
0 10 20 30
Figure 2-32: Accidents involving >50cc and power restricted to 25Kw motorcycles per 100.000 inhabitants by
district in 2007
27
Viseu 13,45
Vila Real 11,96
Setúbal 21,33
Santarém 17,38
Porto 12,63
Portalegre 10,16
Lisboa 30,95
Leiria 22,52
Guarda 16,83
Faro 41,98
Évora 14,72
Coimbra 20,95
Castelo Branco 8,54
Bragança 8,45
Braga 12,64
Beja 20,25
Aveiro 13,89
0 20 40 60
Figure 2-33: Accidents involving >50cc and non power restricted motorcycles per 100.000 inhabitants in each
district in 2007
Faro is the district which presents the highest rate of accidents involving all the kinds of PTW
categories; considering all the PTW together and one by one.
one. A high rate of accidents per 100.000
inhabitants is also covered by Leiria, Coimbra and Aveiro districts. All the districts present a poor road
safety in mopeds accidents, being Lisbon the only district which has a low rate of accidents involving
mopeds; less than 20 accidents per one thousand of inhabitants,
inhabitants, being the rate of accidents in Faro
more than five times higher.
2.3.2 Analysis according to the environmental

e conditions
Running in poor light is connected with accidents rate. It decreases quality and drivers’ field of
vision, so it increases time perception and the time to avoid a possible accident decreases. In
addition, poor light helps to sleepiness and benefits accidents
ents caused by loss of control due to
attention could be paid, for instance, to the devices to turn the inside lights on. Running in night in poor
light conditions is considered as one of the most dangerous driving situation [15].
Solar time is also connected
ted with accidents rate. Drivers and riders can be disturbed by
sunbeams when they are parallel to drivers´ field of vision. The number of accidents according to the
lights conditions is showed in Figure 2-34.
28
Non-defined 32
Blinding sun-light 52
At ningt in non-lighted roads 527
At night in lighted roads 1791
Broad daylight 7146
Dawn or twilight 254
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Figure 2-34: Accidents according to lights conditions

condition
Accidents mostly happened in broad daylight. This is because road network is more used during
the day
ay instead of during the night, so the more vehicles on a road, the more
more possibilities to have
accident exist. Accidents happened in broad daylight is followed by accidents happened during the
night on lighted roads. Third position is covered by accidents happened during the night on non-lighted
non
roads. Running during the night
ht is considered
con like a moderate risk [16],
], being the possibility of
suffering an accident 1.2-1.5
1.5 times higher.
Weather conditions are also connected to accidents rate. Weather conditions modified roads
conditions
ns and drivers´ field of vision, overall in foggy time.
100,00% 91,19%
80,00%
60,00%
40,00%
20,00%
6,36%
1,85%
0,00% 0,58% 0,01% 0,02%
Good weather Rainy
Non-denined Foggy Snowy Windy
Figure 2-35: Accidents according to weather conditions
About 90% of accidents happened in good weather conditions. Good weather conditions are
followed by rain conditions, covering a rate of 6, 36% of the total accidents. This figure is similar to
29
Figure 2-27,, where about 80% of the accidents happened on dried and cleaned roads and about 7%
of the accidents happened on wet roads.
2.3.3. Analysis by time

According to Figure 2-36 the
he highest rate of accidents is from 17.00 to 20.00 hours. This is due
to workday ends in this period of time. Workers are normally tired at workday so they do not pay
attention enough to traffic when they go back home. Accidents rate is quite lower
lower from 02.00 to 07.00
hours.. In spite of light conditions are worse in this period of time, accidents rate is low because roads
are not so full of vehicles.
23:00-24:00 241
22:00-23:00 272
21:00-22:00 379
20:00-21:00 527
19:00-20:00 790
18:00-19:00 948
17:00-18:00 844
16:00-17:00 617
15:00-16:00 632
14:00-15:00 581
13:00-14:00 570
12:00-13:00 644
11:00-12:00 454
10:00-11:00 536
09:00-10:00 418
08:00-09:00 439
07:00-08:00 294
06:00-07:00 62
05:00-06:00 51
04:00-05:00 52
03:00-04:00 72
02:00-03:00 91
01:00-02:00 112
00:00-01:00 172
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Figure 2-36: Accidents according to the period of the day
ng accidents according to the time of the day, it is important to consider the

In addition of analysing
days of the week. People change their activities every day, especially at weekend so accidents rate
will be modified during the week.
30
1673
2000 1423 1549
1264 1272 1312 1314
1500
1000
500
0
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Figure 2-37: Accidents according to the days of the week
Daily accidents rate is quite similar during the week, being a little bit higher at weekends.
People´s activities are almost equal from Monday to Friday, so the same roads at the same time are
used by the drivers. However, people´s activities normally change at weekend, so accidents rate
changes too. Two-wheeled
wheeled vehicles accidents
accidents rate increases from Saturday to Sunday. One of the
reasons of this rise in weekends [10] is the important percentage of PTW riders who drives as a
hobby, riding in free time, being in weekends the period of the week when normally workers have their
free time.
Accidents rate changes analysing the months
mo of the year.. Every month has a different period
perio of
sunlight and a different weather conditions, so different rate of accidents.
December 659
November 794
October 949
September 852
August 1070
July 1090
June 845
May 829
April 771
March 788
February 534
January 616
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Figure 2-38: Accidents according to the months of the year
31
The highest rate of accidents is presented in summer time. Accidents are decreasing little by
little until the lowest rate of accident, which is presented in winter time. This rate starts to increase
after winter until summer, period which presents the highest rate of accidents. It is normal to think
winter period could be worse due to the bad weather and light conditions. Nevertheless, two-wheeled
vehicles have no protection against outside conditions, so riders’ number is higher when weather
conditions are good. In addition, riders normally increase velocity and reduce the attention paid when
roads conditions are not bad.
32
3 Reconstruction of real PTW accidents
In the present chapter several real PTW accidents have been simulated, studying all the
accident circumstances and corroborating all the factors which took part in them.
3.1. Methodology used to reconstruct the accidents

All the accidents were simulated by PC-Crash [17] software. PC-Crash is a collision and
trajectory simulation tool that enables the analysis of vehicle collisions and other incidents. Results are
viewed as 3D-animations, reports, tables and graphs.
Accidents have been simulated in two different ways using two different models type: vehicle´s
model without passengers, defining vehicles, directions, velocities, accelerations and all the
parameters which take part in the accident; and multi-body models which include three-dimensional
bio-mechanic models of the human body so injuries suffered by the passengers can be calculated.
Multi-body system is consisted by several rigid bodies, which represent the different parts of the
human bodies like head, torso or pelvis, which are interconnected by joints. For each body different
properties like geometry, mass contact stiffness and coefficients of friction can be specified. The
geometry for each body is specified by a general ellipsoid.
Figure 3-1: a) Multi-body pedestrian used by PC-Crash

b) Multi-body motorcycle and rider used by PC-Crash
33
3. Reconstruction of real PTW accidents
The multi-body system uses two different coordinate systems. One coordinate system is the
inertial system and the second coordinate system is the body fixed coordinate system. The body fixed
coordinate system is defined by the semi-axis of the ellipsoids.
Figure 3-2: Inertial space coordinate system and body fixed coordinate system
For the simulation of the multi-body system during each time-step the external forces (gravity,
contact forces, friction forces and joint forces) on each body are calculated. The equations of motion
use the balance of forces and conservation of angular momentum to describe the movement of each
body i in the influence of external forces and moments.

∑ (3.1)

∑
(3.2)

(3.3)

= mass of body i
= acceleration at the COG of body i in the inertial space
= external forces on body i in the inertial coordinate system
= mass tensor for body i in the body coordinate system

= angular acceleration of body i in the body coordinate system

angular velocity of body i in the body coordinate system
= external moments on body i in the body coordinate system

34
3. Reconstruction of real PTW accidents
3.1.1. Reconstruction of the scene of the accident

Accident reconstruction is started with the construction of the scene of the accident. Roads with
their corresponding number of lanes, obstacles, signs or even slopes are included. The construction of
a similar scene of the accident is really important to understand how the accident happened.
3.1.2. Including vehicles and defining the accidents parameters

Once the scene of the accident is constructed, including the involved vehicles is next step.
Vehicles have to be selected from a wide vehicles database. All the vehicles parameters are included
in this database, excepting C.O.G, which is about 1/3 of the height vehicle.
Figure 3-3: Database including all the defining values for the vehicles
After including positions, velocities, sequences, trajectories and all the accident parameters it
is time to run the simulation. After that, it is possible to check pre and post impact velocities, kinetic
vehicles energies, vehicles deformation, plane and point of impact, etc. When all the accidents
parameters are known, multi-body models should be added. Multi-body models can be formed by just
a human body or vehicle ridden by a human body. Multi-body models used in the simulation of the
present chapter were consisted by a rider and motorcycle or moped. Sequences cannot be defined in
multi-body models, so they must be moved until the point of impact and pre-impact velocity and
direction must be added.
3.2. Real accidents examples

A total of eleven real PTW accidents were simulated from the data provided by the Portuguese
police [18]. They were happened from 2004 to 2007 in Portugal. Accidents were simulated finding
about initial velocities and trajectories and being based on the accidents statements provided by the
police. After the simulations, pre-impact velocities were calculated, which is a really important date to
consider who should be blamed for the accident. Causes of the accidents can be known after the
detailed analysis of every accident. Thus it is possible to identify which behaviours should be avoided
by the drivers.
35
3. Reconstruction of real two-wheelers vehicles accidents
3.2.1. Side on-crash involving a moped and an automobile

A moped and a car were involved in this accident. Both vehicles ran in opposite directions until
the car´s driver slowed down to park his vehicle, reaching the lane which the moped was running. The
moped had not time enough to avoid the car, taking place the accident. The rider was propelled
forward over the motorbike, strongly hitting his head against the door of the car.
Table 3-1: Accident 1 details

Scene of the accident Maia region, Porto
Data of the accident September 2008
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Passenger automobile make Fiat Punto, black
colour
Vehicle 2; Moped make Yamaha DT 50 LCE unknown
colour
Road type Urban road. The road was straight and visibility was good
Weather conditions Weather conditions were good and the road surface was
dried and cleaned so friction coefficient used was 0.7
Age of the two-wheeled vehicle 22
driver
Age of the rider driving licence 1.5
Alcohol or drugs found in driver´s Driver 1; No
blood
Driver 2; No
Protective devices used by the rider Helmet was used by the rider though it was unfastened.
As result of this fact, rider´s head was not protected by his
helmet at the moment of the accident.
Velocities Speed limit of the road: 50 km/h
Circulation speed of the vehicle 1; 50 km/h
Collision speed of the vehicle 1; 2,61 km/h
Figure 3-4: Scene of the accident 1
36
t=0s. Initial conditions. Vehicle 1 is looking for a t=3.39s. Vehicle 1 slowly turn to the left to park his
parking place car
t=4.49s. Parking is joint to the road by an slope, so t=5.29s. Vehicle 1 could not be avoided by the
when vehicle 1 reached the slope, it completely moped.
stopped.
t=5.409s. Rider seriously hit his head and chest t=6.889. Final positions
against the car.
Figure 3-5: Simulation results of the accident 1
37
As a consequence of the accident, several parts of the vehicles were damaged. The damages
of the car were concentrated on the right-back door, while the moped damages happened on the front
side and on the external metal sheets. When the rider was propelled forward because of the collision,
he strongly hit his head against the car door. His helmet was unfastened so it did not protect his head
against the hit. The rider was admitted on hospital and he died after five days. The car´s driver
suffered no personal injuries.
The main cause of the accident was that the driver of the vehicle 1 did not correctly check the
possible arrivals of vehicles before reaching the opposite lane. In addition, the driver of the car turned
too slow to the left when he wanted to park his car, instead of turning in a safe and fast manner. Due
to his helmet was not correctly fasten, the personal injuries were much more serious.
3.2.2. Side on-crash involving a motorcycle and an automobile

A motorcycle and a passenger automobile were involved in this accident. The car was parked
on the same road where the motorcycle ran. The passenger automobile left the parking, reaching the
motorcycle´s lane. Motorcycle had not time enough to can avoid the car, so the accident took place.
After the collision against the car, the rider lost control of the motorcycle, suddenly crashing against a
wall. After that running for several metres the rider fell down and lay over the road surface.

Scene of the accident Matosinhos region, Porto
Data of the accident August 2006
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Passenger automobile make Ford Fiesta red
colour
Vehicle 2; Motorcycle make CBR 900 blue colour
Road type Urban road. The road was straight and visibility was good
driver
Age of the rider driving licence 5
blood
Driver 2; Rate of alcohol in blood; 0.36g/l
Protective devices used by the rider The helmet was neither in his head nor surrounded him
after the accident, so if helmet was used by the rider, it
was unfastened.
Circulation speed of the vehicle 1; 0.00 km/h
Collision speed of the vehicle 1; 22.9 km/h
Collision speed of the vehicle 2; 67,8km/h
38
t=0s. Initial conditions. Vehicle 1 is parked on the

t=1.72s. Vehicle 1 left the parking place, crashing
same road where motorcycle run.
against the motorcycle
t=2.88s. Motorcycle cannot avoid crashing against

t=2.48s. Rider loose control of the motorcycle and
the house wall
run toward a house wall.
t=3.02s. Rider seriously hit his head against the t=6.889. Final positions
house wall
39
Both vehicles were strongly damaged in the accident. The front and the left part of the car were
seriously damaged, including the rear-view mirror and the bonnet of the car. The front side and the
fuel container were damaged in the motorcycle as well as the motorcycle´s external metal sheets,
which finished scratched due to the motorcycle dragging over the road surface. When the rider lost
control of his vehicle, he suddenly hit his head against the house´s wall. The rider was already dead
when the ambulance arrived until the scene of the accident. The driver of the vehicle 1 suffered no
injuries.
Figure 3-7: Vehicles damaged parts in the accident 2
When the driver of the vehicle 1 left the parking, he did not correctly check the possible arrivals
of other vehicles, being this cause the main cause of the accident. In addition, the rider ran in high
speed according to the speed limit of the road, so he had even less time to avoid the collision against
the car.
3.2.3. Pile up involving a passengers automobile and two motorcycles

A total of two motorcycles and one passenger automobile were involved in this accident. Both
motorcycles ran together on the same road which was perpendicular to the road where the car ran,
being these roads joint by a crossroad. The driver of the car slowed down until stopping its vehicle
when it reached the crossroad, respecting the stop sign. After several seconds, the driver accelerated
the car until arriving to the road where the motorcycles ran. Instead of reaching the right lane, the
driver completely stopped his vehicle in the middle of the motorcycle´s lane. Thus, the car could not be
avoided by the riders, crashing against the passenger automobile.
40

Scene of the accident Valongo region, Porto in 20/03/2005 at 11.00 hours.
Data of the accident March 2005
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Passenger automobile make Ford Fiesta, red
colour
Vehicle 2; Motorcycle make Suzuki yellow colour
Vehicle 3; Motorcycle unknown make and colour
Road type Urban road. The accident took place on a crossroad
surrounded by houses, so visibility was poor.
Age of the two-wheeled vehicle Rider 2: Unknown
driver
Rider 3; Unknown
Age of the rider driving licence Rider 2: Unknown
Rider 3; Unknown
blood
Driver 2; No
Driver 3;Unknown
Protective devices used by the rider Helmet was correctly used by both riders
Collision speed of the vehicle 1 (firs collision; 45,48 km/h)
Collision speed of the vehicle 2 (second collision;
0.35km/h)
Collision speed of the vehicle 2: 47,45 km/h
Collision speed of the vehicle 3: 44,42 km/h
Figure 3-8: Scene of the accident 3
41
t=0s. Initial conditions. Motorcycles and vehicle 1 t=2.52s. Vehicle 1 reaches the crossroad and
are approaching to a crossroad. slowed down according to the stop sign.
t=3.44s. Vehicle 1 stops on the motorcycles lane t=3.89s. Vehicle 1 cannot be avoided by the
so blue motorcycle 2 turns to the left to avoid it. motorcycle 2
t=4.58s. Motorcycle 3 crashes against the car t=9.52s. Final positions

42
As a consequence of the accident, the front and the left side of the car were strongly damaged,
as well as the bonnet car. The vehicle 2 was slightly damaged due to the collision while vehicle 3
damages are unknown. Both riders were admitted to hospital, being the rider 2 admitted as a slightly
injured because of some injuries in his knee and hand. The rider 3 was admitted as a seriously injured
though his injuries are unknown.
The main cause of the accident was that possible arrivals of other vehicles were not correctly
checked by the driver of the vehicle 1 before leaving the crossroad. Also, the driver one completely
stopped his vehicle in the middle of the other road instead of reaching his lane in a fast and safety
way. Both riders ran in high speed, fact that got the situation worse.
3.2.4. Oblique crash involving a passenger automobile and a motorcycle

Vehicle one and the motorcycle ran in perpendicular roads which were joint by a crossroad. The
driver of the passenger automobile slowed down until stopping the car when he arrived to the
crossroad respecting the stop sign. After checking the possible arrival of other vehicles, the driver of
the vehicle one accelerated the car reaching the other road, which the motorcycle was running.
Motorcycle ran in high speed according to the speed limit of the road, so the rider had not time enough
to avoid the car. After the collision, the motorcycle was propelled forward, falling down and dragging
over the road surface for several meters.

Scene of the accident Lisbon city
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Passenger automobile make BMW 535 blue
colour
Vehicle 2; Motorcycle make CB 600 red colour
Road type Urban road. The visibility was good
driver
Age of the rider driving licence 3 (rider driving licence was type B instead of type A, which
is necessary to drive this vehicle type)
blood
Driver 2; 2,61 ng/ml de THC-COOH (Cannabis)
Protective devices used by the rider Helmet was not used by the rider
43
t=0s. Initial conditions. Both vehicles are t=4.23s. Vehicle 1 reaches the crossroad and
approaching to the crossroad. slowed down according to the stop sign.
t=5.18s. Vehicle 1 slowly reaches the other road t=5.362s. Vehicle 1 crashes against the motorcycle
while the motorcycle is running.
t=5.58s. Rider and motorcycle fall down t=7.882. Final positions

44
The automobile´s passenger suffered several damages as a consequence of the collision. The
left-frontal side of the car as well as the engine, headlights and the radiator were damaged. Motorcycle
damages were concentrated in the engine, headlight and direction and suspension system. The rider
of the motorcycle died in the accident while the driver of the car suffered no injuries.
The main cause of the accident was that the car´s driver did not correctly check the possible
arrival of other vehicles before reaching the other road. Nevertheless, due to the rider ran in high
speed, the driver of the car had difficulties to realise that the motorcycle was arriving to the crossroad.
The THC-COOH found in the rider´s blood could have helped to the motorcycle to run in high velocity,
without caring of possible risks.
3.2.5. Accident caused by a loss of control without involving other vehicles

Vehicle 1 ran on a wide urban road, formed by two lanes for both directions. When the rider
arrived until a blend, he did not correctly turn to the left, losing control of the motorcycle and crashing
against the road protective systems. The rider dragged about 70 meters over the road surface before
lying on their final positions.

Data of the accident October 2005
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Motorcycle make CBR 1000 red colour
Road type Road bend. The road had two lanes to both directions
driver
blood
Protective devices used by the rider Helmet was correctly used by the rider
Figure 3-11: Accident 5 scene
45
t=0s. Initial conditions. Motorcycle run on a curve t=0.36s. The rider lost control of his motorcycle and
do not correctly take the bend
t=5.62s. Final positions

t=0.97s. Motorcycle and rider fall down.
The right side of the motorcycle was slightly damaged as a result of the hit against the
protective system and the hit against the road surface. The external metal sheets were scratched due
to the dragging over the road surface. In spite of dragging about 70 metres over the road surface, the
rider of the motorcycle suffered no serious injuries and he was admitted to hospital as a slightly
injured.
The main cause of the accident was that the rider ran in too high speed according to the speed
limit, thus he could not correctly manoeuvre when he reached the curve, losing control of his vehicle. If
the rider would have realised of the dangerous situation, he had slowed down, avoiding the accident.
46
3.2.6. Motorcycle accident involving no opposite vehicle

The motorcycle ran on a wide urban road which became two different roads. He was running on
the right lane due to he was ready to take the right road at the junction moment. When the rider was
too close to the junction, he decided to turn to the left as a trying of avoiding the traffic lights, which
was red on the right side but green on the left side. The motorcycle´s front brake was suddenly
activated by the rider, so he was propelled forward over the motorcycle, losing the control of the
vehicle. The rider crashed against a metallic device which announces the beginning of the two new
roads while the motorcycle dragged over the road surface for several metres, until crashing against a
garbage container.

Data of the accident January 2007
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Motorcycle make Yamaha FZR 600R black
colour
Road type The accident took place in a junction belonging to an
urban road
driver
blood
Circulation speed of the vehicle 1; 115-125 km/h
Collision speed of the vehicle 1; 105 km/h
47
t=0s. Initial conditions. Motorcycle is running on a t=0.87s. When rider is close to the road junction, he
big road, being followed by a car changes his direction to the left, activating his front
brake and losing control of the motorcycle.
t=1.19s. Motorcycle front wheel suddenly stops t=1.73s. Rider crashes against the metallic device
moving being the rider propelled forward. which separates both roads
t=3.00s. Motorcycle crashes against the paviment t=7.10s. Motorcycle final position after crashing
and draggs over the road surface against a garbage container
48
As a consequence of the accident, the motorcycle´s handlebar was bended, the engine and the
external metal sheets were scratched due to the dragging over the road surface and several plastic
pieces were broken. When the rider of the motorcycle was propelled forward he suddenly crashed
against the metallic device which announces the beginning of the two new different roads. As a
consequence of this hit, the rider died.
Trying to change of direction activating the motorcycle´s front brake was the main cause of the
accident, due to which the rider lost control of the motorcycle and was propelled forward. In addition,
the rider ran in high speed according to the speed limit so he could not change of direction in a safety
manner.
3.2.7. Front-side crash involving a motorcycle and a heavy vehicle

Both vehicles ran in perpendicular roads, joined by a crossroad. When the heavy vehicle arrived
until the crossroad, the driver continued the driving due to the traffic light was green in that moment.
However, the traffic light which controlled the road where the motorcycle was running was red when
the motorcycle arrived until the crossroad and instead of respecting the sign, the rider continued the
driving, reaching the crossroad and crashing against the bus. The motorcycle and the rider fell down
and dragged over the road surface for several metres. Finally, motorcycle hit against a metallic fence
which was over the road.

Data of the accident April 2004
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Heavy vehicle make Volvo B10L290CNG
yellow colour
Vehicle 2; Motorcycle make Honda CB500 black colour
Road type The accident happened in an urban road, inside a
crossroad controlled by traffic lights.
driver
blood
Driver 2; Rate of alcohol in blood 1,31 g/l
49
t=0s. Initial conditions. Both vehicles are t=2.01s.Rider does not respect the traffic light in
approaching to a crossroad. red, so both vehicles meet on the crossroad.
t=2.35s. Bus crashes against motorcycle and rider

t=2.785s. Motorcycle and rider fall down.
loses control of the vehicle.
t=3.235s. Motorcycle and rider drag over the road t=5.69s. Final positions
surface
50
The motorcycle was seriously damaged as a consequence of the accident. Damages were
shared out among the fuel container, the rear-view mirror, the handlebar and the tailpipe. The bus
finished slightly damaged in his front part, breaking the windscreen. While the bus driver suffered no
injuries, the driver of the motorcycle died in the accident.
The main cause of the accident was obviously that the motorcycle rider did not respect the
traffic light which stopped to the motorcycle reached the crossroad. Furthermore, the alcohol found in
the rider´s blood and the high speed driving could have influenced motorcycle´s decision of not to
respect the traffic light, without taking care of the possible risks.
3.2.8. Pile up involving a motorcycle and several vehicles

Four vehicles were involved in this accident; one motorcycle, two passengers automobile and
one merchandising vehicle. The accident took place inside an urban tunnel. Both cars and the
merchandising vehicle were almost stopped inside the tunnel because of the traffic congestion. The
motorcycle was running in high speed on the urban road outside the tunnel. When the rider arrived to
the tunnel, he had not time enough to avoid the other vehicles which were stopped inside, crashing
against the first car and losing control of his motorcycle. Afterward, he crashed against the tunnel wall
and later against the second passenger automobile. Finally, rider fell down, dragging several metres
over the road surface and crashing again against the merchandising vehicle.
Table 3-8; Accident 8 details

Data of the accident May 2005
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Motorcycle make Honda CBR 600 yellow colour
Vehicle 2; Passenger automobile make VW Golf black
colour
Vehicle 3; Passenger automobile make Peugeot 206 black
colour
Vehicle 4; Merchandising vehicle make Nissan Prade
white colour
Road type The accident happened inside an urban tunnel. The tunnel
was formed by two lanes for the same direction
driver
Age of the rider driving licence He hold not driving licence
blood
Driver 2; No
Driver 3; No
Driver 4; No
51

Collision speed of the vehicle 1 (first collision); 90.2 km/h
Collision speed of the vehicle 1 (second collision); 56.88
km/h
t=0s. Initial conditions. Motorcycle approaches to t=0.75s. Rider realises the danger situation so he
the tunnel in high speed while the rest of the turns to the right without being able to avoid the
vehicles are stopped due to heavy traffic. collision against the vehicle 2
t=1.19s. Rider loses control of his motorcycle t=1.35s. After crashing against the tunnel wall,
crashing against the tunnel wall rider crashes against the vehicle 3
52
Final motorcycle conditions took place at t=5.12s. However, it was not possible to know the
rider final conditions due to multibody systems do not recognize slopes, so the multibody simulation
could not be run in this accident.
After so many collisions, the motorcycle finished seriously damaged. The vehicle 2 suffered
important damages on the back right side, including the headlamp and the axle car. The back part of
the vehicle 3 was damaged as a consequence of the accident and its windscreen was broken. Vehicle
4 suffered almost no damages, due to it was hit just by the rider at the wheel height. The driver of the
motorcycle died in the accident as a result of several collisions. The other drivers suffered no injuries.
Figure 3-17: Damages suffered in the vehicles as a consequence of the accident
The main cause of the accident was that the rider ran in too high speed according to the speed
limit of the road and to the traffic conditions, so he could not stop his vehicle on the right moment. The
fact that the accident happened inside a tunnel formed by an slope prevented the rider to realise of the
dangerous situation on time, being too late to can stop the motorcycle. In addition, the vehicles inside
the tunnel where stopped due to the traffic congestion, so it got the situation even worse.
3.2.9. Motorcycle collision against the road protective systems because of a loss
of control
The motorcycle ran on “Ponte 25 de Abril” road when the rider lost control of the motorcycle and
fell down. Instead of running inside the urban lane, the rider was running in the road verge, so he
53
crashed against the metallic protective system, after dragging several metres over the road surface.
Causes by which the rider was running in the road verge and lost control of the motorcycle are
unknown. Several journals [19] affirmed that the motorcycle started to feel sick so he started to run in
the urban verge, losing control of the motorbike and finally falling down. The right lane of the road was
stopped to traffic for two hours, causing traffic congestion.
Table 3-9; Accident 9 details

Data of the accident June 2006
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Motorcycle make Honda XL 600V black/grey
colour
Road type The accident took place inside a wide urban road being
formed by three lanes for one direction and two lanes for
the opposite one. The road is surrounded by metallic
protective system.
driver
Alcohol or drugs found in driver´s Driver 1; Unknown
blood
Collision speed of the vehicle 1; There was no collision
54
t=0s. Initial conditions. Rider runs on the verge t=1.02s. Rider and motorcycle fall due to unknown
instead of running on one of the road lanes. reason, dragging over the road surface
t=2.33s. Rider hits against the metallic protection t=3.58s.Final positions

devices.
The entire right side of the motorcycle was damaged as a consequence of the accident, being
seriously the headlamp and the metal external sheets seriously damaged. The rider of the motorcycle
died due to the seriously hit against the metallic protective system.
The main cause of the accident was the motorcycle loss of control though reasons which
caused this loss of control are not completely clear. As the rider was riding over the road verge, he
was closer to the protective systems when he fell down. If the rider had not run over the verge he
maybe could have avoid the collision.
55
3.2.10. Motorcycle collision against a rock wall

The driver of the motorcycle ran on a blocked road which was being repaired so construction
materials were over the road. The rider was running in high speed when he realised that a big column
made of concrete lay over the road surface. The rider suddenly braked the vehicle losing control of his
motorcycle. The rider fell down and dragged over the road surface until crashing against the big
column.
Scene of the accident Odivelas, Lourdes region
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Motorcycle make Honda XL 600V black colour
Road type The accident happened on a blocked road which was
being repaired. As a result of this, construction materials
were over the road surface.
driver
Age of the rider driving licence The rider hold no driving licence
Alcohol or drugs found in driver´s Driver 1; Rate of alcohol in blood; 2.04 g/l
blood
Velocities Speed limit of the road: It was on a blocked road, so there
was not any speed limit
56
t=0s. Initial conditions. The rider of the motorcycle t=1.06s. Rider realises of the material construction
run on a traffic blocked road. which is on the road surface so he suddenly brakes
losing control of his motorcycle.
t=2.55s. Motorcycle and rider fall down dragging t=5.79s. Final conditions after suddenly crash
over the road surface. against the rock wall.
The motorcycle was seriously damaged in the accident, sharing damages out among the fuel
container, battery, engine and the handlebar. The rider died as a consequence of the sudden collision
against the column made of concrete.
The main cause of the accident was the high rate of alcohol found in the rider´s blood,
preventing him to realise of the dangerous situation. In addition, the driving in high speed and the
construction materials which were over the road surface complicated the situation.
57
3.2.11. Motorcycle collision against the road protective system

A motorcycle and a passenger automobile ran in the same road and in the same lane, being the
motorcycle behind the passenger automobile. The rider of the motorcycle was trying to overtake to the
car, so he was accelerating his motorbike to decrease the distance among them. Without realising that
the motorbike was so close to him, the driver of the car slowed down. Thus, the rider turned to the left
as a trying of avoiding the imminent accident though instead of crashing against the car, he crashed
against the protective systems of the road. As a consequence of this hit, the rider was propelled
forward, suddenly crashing his head against a road streetlight.

Data of the accident December 2006
Vehicles involved Vehicle 1; Motorcycle make Honda ST 1100
blue colour
Vehicle 2; Passenger automobile make Opel Astra grey
colour
Road type Urban road. The visibility was good
driver
blood
Driver 2; No
Protective devices used by the rider Helmet was not used by the rider
Collision speed of the vehicle 2; Vehicle 2 was not
involved in any collision
58
t=0s. Initial conditions. Vehicle 2 is followed by the t=1.26s. Rider is trying to overtake the car so it is
motorcycle. closer and closer to the car.
t=2.69s. The car suddenly brakes so motorcycle t=3.005s. Motorcycle crashes against the central
turns to the right to avoid crashing against the car. reservation road.
t=3.115s. Rider is propelled forward. t=3.32s. Rider finally crashes his head against the
streetlight road.
59
Several parts of the motorcycle were damaged in the accident as the suspension and direction
system, the engine as well as the external metal sheets from the right side due to the dragging over
the road surface. The passenger automobile suffered no damages because he was not involved in the
collision. The rider of the motorcycle died as a consequence of the hard head hit against the road
streetlight, even being the helmet correctly used.
The main cause of the accident was that the rider did not keep the safety distance enough to
avoid the accident. Furthermore, the car´s driver suddenly slowed down his speed without realising
that it could become a dangerous situation for the motorcycle’s rider.
3.3 Main conclusions of the accidents

A total of eleven real accidents have been simulated in this chapter. The main conclusions are;
• Three riders were driving under the alcohol influence, being the rate of alcohol in blood
upper the law limit in two of them. In addition, one rider ran under the cannabis effects.
• Age of rider’s driving licence was under three years old in four accidents. Furthermore,
two drivers did not hold the motorcycle licence in two accidents.
• In most of the accidents helmet was correctly used by riders. Just in one accident rider
did not wear any protective system. However, helmet was unfastened in two of the
accidents.
• Drivers ran up the speed limit in all the accidents simulated.
• When riders and drivers were involved in an accident, the responsibility of the accident
was majority from the drivers; drivers committed the main infraction in four accidents
while riders were responsible from the accident in just two accidents. The rest of
accidents drivers crashed against no contraries.
• Riders died as a consequence of the accident in nine of them while drivers suffered no
injuries in all the accidents. As it was analysed in the last chapter, riders are much more
vulnerable to suffer serious injuries or dying than drivers in case of accident.
• The causes of the accidents certified the statistical study; loss of control was the cause
of the accident in six of them. The rest of accidents were caused by side-on crash.
60
4 Study about the possible Portuguese CE
alteration analysing the consequences of
the Spanish RGC alteration
2
The RGC was altered in Spain in 2004. This changed allowed car users whose driving licence
were more than three years old the driving of motorcycles hold by the A1 licence, it means, under-
125cc and power restricted to 11kW. The same alteration was already carried out in other European
countries in 90´s, like Italy or France. However, many associations are opposed to this alteration due
to motorcycles fatalities rates have increased since these changes [20].
Two years later since the Spanish change, the French government amended a law which obey
to users of type B licence to follow a minimum of three hours of practical lessons to be allowed to drive
this kind of motorcycles. In Spain, many associations related with the engine vehicles, among them
the European Motorist Association, have asked the government to cancel this law or obey to follow a
practical training to users of the type B licence. Nevertheless, the Spanish governmental traffic
association, “Dirección General de Tráfico”, have already announced that the law will not be removed,
although specific questions related with motorcycles could be added to the type B theoretical exam.
3
This controversy situation has arrived to Portugal, where it is being considered to alter the CE ,
like other European countries have already done. The Portuguese non-governmental association,
“Federação Nacional de Motociclismo” [21] demonstrated in front of the “Assembleia da República” in
Lisbon in February 2005 and launched a petition to claim the CE alteration.
The European council directive mentions this situation in the 91/439/EC document [22], though
it is quite permissible about it. The document says that the States members are allowed to recognize
the equivalence of the B licence by the A1 licence in their lands. However, due to this is just possible
in their territories, they must not indicate this equivalence in the common European driving licence.
The aim of the present chapter is to analyses the current Portuguese PTW situation to decide if
Portugal should alter its CE, allowing type B users the driving of motorcycles which are hold by the
type A1 licence. The consequences of the Spanish RGC alteration will be considered in this chapter.
2
Reglamento General de Conductores
3
Código da Estrada
61
4.1. Alteration of the Spanish RGC through the 1598/2004 order in
council
The Spanish RGC controls the behaviours, obligations and rights of every vehicles´ drivers in
nd
the country. An alteration law was carried out on 2 of July 2004 with the aim of update
up the RGC to
the current situation. Several articles were modified [23],
], among them the article 6, section 4, allowing
car´s users with more than three-years-old
three driving licence the driving of motorcycles which were hold
by the A1 driving licence, being
g these motorcycles those ones which are > 125cc, power restricted
to11Kw and less than 0.11 Kw/kg engine capacity/weight rate.
The aim of the RGC alteration was to improve the traffic situation, decreasing the number of
vehicles driven by just one people.
4.2. Traffic problems in big cities

The alteration of the RGC was carried out to lighten the traffic congestions in the Spanish roads.
Traffic happens when more than a certain number of vehicles run on a road, being this amount of
vehicles higher than the amount by which the road was designed.
designed. Fast roads are normally designed to
support a number of 2.000 vehicles per hour while slow roads are designed to support about 1.500
vehicles per hour [24].. Nevertheless, traffic conditions are influenced by many factors,
actors, like accidents,
traffic lights or roundabouts.
ne of the main problems for the majority of the cities [25].
Nowadays, traffic is one [25 A big part of the
population goes to live in the city’s outskirts due to house´s prices are quite lower. However, the
majority of the population work in the urban centre. Thus, wide urban areas are created and the
number of journeys since the city´s outskirts to the urban centre and vice versa is multiplied.
Car is really extended and it is used by the majority
majori of the population.
opulation. Due to its big size car is
presented as the principal responsible of traffic congestion.. In addition, automobiles are normally
used just by a person, which emphasizes the
t mentioned problem [26].
Figure 4-1 shows how the fleet of vehicles is divided in Spain and Portugal
136.000
2.343.124 4.835.670 401.000
2.042.298 15.000
157.720
58.286
20.636.738 5.474.000
Trucks and vans Trucks and vans

Buses Buses
Cars Cars
Motorcycles Motorcycles
Mopeds Mopeds
Figure 4-1: Vehicles distribution by type in Spain and Portugal in 2006
200 [27] [28]
62
4. Study about the possible Portuguese CE alteration analysing the consequences of the RGC alteration
Cars are without any doubt, the most extended vehicles in both countries, being more popular
in Portugal than Spain, covering percentages of 88,52% and 68,92% respectively. Mopeds and
motorcycles represent an importance percentage, though is much lower than the percentage
represented by car.
4.2.1. Economic costs related with traffic congestion

4
Traffic congestions are an economic-social curse which, according to OECE [29], cost about
5
2% of the GDP in developed countries every year, as a consequence of the environmental pollution,
accidents, wasted of time and waste of fuel. In addition, traffic problems influence the happy mood of
the drivers.
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland Passengers
Italy
Luxembourg Merchandises
Holland
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
U.K.
U.E
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Figure 4-2: Costs in Euros related to the traffic congestion per 1000 people/kilometre and 1000 tone/kilometre by
country [2]
Costs related with the traffic congestions in the European Union are quite wide, as a
consequence of the passenger and merchandise transport. Germany is the European country which
covers the highest rate related with transport of merchandises while Holland presents the highest rate
related with transport of passengers.
Portugal presents and rate of less than 2€ of wasted money per 1000people or tone divided by
kilometres, being the Spanish cost more than the double.
4
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
5
Gross domestic product
63
4. Study about the possible Portuguese CE alteration analysing the consequences of the Spanish RGC alteration
4.3. Register of motor vehicles in Spain and Portugal

The Spanish RGC alteration modified the current situation, giving the opportunity to more than
13 million of people to drive the motorcycles which were allowed with the type A1 licence, saving time
and money, so motorcycles register was notably increased.
4.3.1. Register of motorcycles in Spain and Portugal

Under-125cc-power motorcycles were the only motorcycle category which was altered by the
RGC alteration. However, all the motorcycles categories have notably increased their sales number.
Due to the RGC alteration, under-125cc-power motorcycles have hugely increased their sales after
several years of fall in sales. In 2003, a total of 15.776 under-125cc-power motorcycles were
registered while a total of 124.660 were registered in 2006, increasing their sales in a percentage of
690,1%.
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2000 >750cc
501-750cc
1998
251-500cc
126-250cc
1996
76-125cc
1994 <75cc
1992
1990
1988
1986
0 20.000 40.000 60.000 80.000 100.000 120.000 140.000
Figure 4-3: Motorcycle registration by power category in Spain [27]
64
2003 2006
87 29.431 129
10.988
15.776 124.660
55.937
17.899
22.220
18.911
44.179
6.805
<75cc 76
76-125cc <75cc 76-125cc
126-250cc 251
251-500cc 126-250cc 251-500cc
501-750cc >750cc 501-750cc >750cc
Figure 4-4: Motorcycles registration by power category in 2003 compared with 2006 in Spain
otorcycles were registered in 2003 in Spain. The highest rate of registers

A total of 73.775 motorcycles
was covered by motorcycles with a power between 126-250cc.
126 Their sales covered a percentage of
30,11% of the total motorcycles sales. However, after the RGC alteration, motorcycle market
m has
really changed, being the 76-125cc
125cc category the leading category. The sales number covered by this
type of motorcycle
otorcycle has increased until 124.660 registered motorcycles in 2006, covering a percentage
of 45,62% of the total motorcycles sales.
300.000 273.247
250.000 218.038
200.000
150.000 Spain
120.698
Portugal
100.000 73.775
65.059 60.188
50.000 17.087 14.218 11.198 11.562 11.232 11.435
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Figure 4-5: Motorcycles registration in Spain and Portugal [27] [30]
A total of 273.247 motorcycles were registered

regis in Spain in 2006, so the number of sales
increased a percentage of 270,37% compared with 2003.
2003. Although all the motorcycles categories
65
4. Study about the possible Portuguese CE alteration analysing the consequences
ences of the Spanish RGC alteration
increased the volume of sales, this rise is mostly relates with 76-125cc
76 125cc category, which was influenced
by the RGC alteration.
Motorcycles register have decreased year by year in Portugal since 2001 until 2003,
2003 being
almost constant in last four years.
years. The Portuguese motorcycles volume of sales is quite poor
compared with the current Spanish situation.
4.3.2. Register of mopeds and cars in Spain

The aim of the RCG alteration was improving the traffic congestion,, decreasing the number of
cars in the urban centres in favour of motorcycles, which notably help to reduce traffic problems due to
their small size and easily way of running.
running
Mopeds sizes are similar to motorcycles sizes, so they also help to reduce traffic
traff problems.
They are very useful in big cities due to their small sizes, low fuel consumption and easily way of
running.
2.000.000
1.653.798
1.492.527 1.676.707
1.500.000 1.660.627
1.000.000
500.000
99.351
0 98.453
69.727
2003
31.351
2004
2005
2006
Mopeds Cars
Figure 4-6: Register of mopeds and cars in Spain [27]
However, register of cars has almost remained constant in the last years while register of
mopeds have strongly decreased since 2004. In fact, motorcycles sales have fallen, in just four years,
a percentage of 68,44%.
While motorcycle market has profited from the RGC alteration, mopeds market has strongly
suffered the consequences of this alteration, falling the sales year by year. Under--125cc motorcycles
are quite more powerful than mopeds, so the riders of mopeds could prefer the driving of more
powerful vehicles.
4.4. Road safety in Spain and Portugal

Figures of victims have notably reduced in the last years on the Spanish roads. In fact, the rate
of fatalities has decreased
d a percentage of 35% since 2000; while Portuguese road safety has even
66
more improved for the last years because Portuguese rate of fatalities have decreased a percentage
of 50% for the same period of time.
200 184
180 163 160
144 148
160
136 131 130
140 124
118
112
120 103
94 92
100
80
60
40
20
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Spain Portugal
Figure 4-7: Rate of fatalities per one million of inhabitants in Spain and Portugal [1]
According to Table 4-1, rates of fatalities involving car´s users have strongly decreased in both
countries for the last years, being the Portuguese fall stronger than the Spanish one.
Table 4-1: Rates of fatalities involving car´s users in Spain and Portugal
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Spain 3288 3144 3104 3211 2691 2389 2095

Portugal 732 636 710 630 537 495 375
This improving of the Portuguese road safety has also been reflected in the others vehicles
categories, especially in mopeds and motorcycles
250
200
150 Mopeds
Motorcycles
100 Bicycles
Trucks
50 Buses
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Figure 4-8: Rate of fatalities in Portugal according to the vehicle type
67
Motorcycles and mopeds have seriously decreased the number of fatalities. Both categories
presented the highest rate of fatalities in 2000, excepting car users. Nowadays, these categories are
still leading the list
ist of fatalities by vehicle, though the number of fatalities have been decreased in a
56,88% and 22,4% respectively since 2000.
In Figure 4-9 is possible to understand the current Spanish situation after the RGC alteration.
600
500
400 Mopeds
Motorcycles
300
Bicycles
200 Trucks
100 Buses
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Figure 4-9: Rates of fatalities in Spain according to the vehicle type
The Spanish road safety has been improved in all the types of vehicles, excepting motorcycles,
increasing the rate fatalities since 2004. The register of motorcycles in Spain was strongly increased
due to the RGC alteration, so motorcycle rate of fatalities increased too. A total of 367 motorcycles
riders died in 2003 while 481 riders died in 2006, what means a rise of 31% since the Spanish RGC
alteration.
4.2.1. Victims of motorcycles accidents in Spain and Portugal

According to Figure 4-10,, the amount of motorcycle road fatalities, serious injuries and slight
injuries have increased in Spain since 2003. The rate of fatalities have suffered a rise of 38,34% since
the RGC alteration, being the amount of slight injuries much higher than several years ago.
ago
3.420
3500
3000
2500 2.280
1.833 1.988 1.891
2000 1.784 1.651
1.591
1.227 1.247 1.366 1.222
1500
1000
289 293 266 304 358 368
500
0
2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Figure 4-10: Rate of fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries in the Spanish roads [27]
68
The number of fatalities and injuries inside urban roads has notably risen since the RGC
alteration,
lteration, highlighting the rate of slight injuries.. Road safety involving motorcycles has generally
decreased in urban roads as in roads.
9.433
10000
7.688
8000 6.854 6.931 6.421
6.322
6000
4000
2000 930 784 795 917 1.085 1.258
103 108 101 96 114 113
0
2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Figure 4-11: Rate of fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries inside urban roads in Spain
The number of road accidents has increased more than the number of urban road accidents
since the RGC alteration. The number
umber of road victims have risen off 73,1% since 2003,
2003 what means a
total of 2400 victims more. The number
n of urban road victims have increased a percentage of 49,82%
4
in 2006 compared with 2003.
Number of victims iss completely related with the amount of registered motorcycles. However, in
spite of the huge rise in the motorcycles fleet, the number of victims
ims per one million of motorcycles has
increased too. In fact, it was decreasing year by year until 2004, when it started to rise.
Table 4-2: Motorcycless registration and road and urban road victims in Spain [27] [30]
Year Motorcycles fleet Victims in road Victims in urban road
2000 1.234.437 3.353 7.891
2002 1.355.820 3.319 7.380
2003 1.429.595 3.283 7.220
2004 1.550.293 3.514 7.437
2005 1.768.331 4.238 8.898
2006 2.041.578 5.683 10.817
69
8000
6392
6000 5443 5050 5032 5298
4797
4000 2716 2784
2448 2296 2267 2397
2000
0
2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Road Urban Road
Figure 4-12: Number of victims per one million of motorcycles in Spain according to the road type
Nevertheless, the number of fatalities per one million of motorcycles has decreased despite the
RGC alteration. This rate has decreased
decreased a percentage of 8,5% since 2004 in both types of roads.
Table 4-3: Motorcycles

ycles registration and road and urban road fatalities in Spain
Year Motorcycles fleet Fatalities in road Fatalities in urban
u road
2000 1.234.437 289 103
2002 1.355.820 293 108
2003 1.429.595 266 101
2004 1.550.293 304 96
2005 1.768.331 358 114
2006 2.041.578 368 113
According to Figure 4-13,, it is possible to affirm that the RGC alteration has not increased the
number of fatalities per one million of motorcycles. However, the rate of fatalities is not decreasing as
fast as beforehand.
234
250 216
196 202
186 180
200
150
83
100 80 71 62 64 55
50
0
2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Road Urban Road

Figure 4-13: Number of fatalities per one million of motorcycles
motorcycles in Spain according to the road type
70
Road safety has improved in Portuguese roads in all the vehicles types, including motorcycles.
The number of fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries has notably decreased since 2000.
4768 4608 4370 4541

5000
4086
3725
4000 3448
3000
2000
932 778
1000 534 585 556 524 449
212 229 225 213 181 188 137
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Figure 4-14: Number of fatalities, serious injuries and slight injuries in roads and urban roads in Portugal [3]
A total of 5912
12 victims of motorcycles happened in 2000 in Portugal. This number decreased
until 4034 victims of motorcycles
orcycles in 2006, what means a decrease of 31,76%. Victims and fatalities per
one million of motorcycles have also decreased year by year though these rates are still too high
compared
pared with the Spanish figures.
Table 4-4: Registration of motorcycles, total victims and total fatalities in Portugal [1] [3]
Year Motorcycle fleet Total victims Total fatalities
fata
2000 144.000 5912 212
2001 158.000 5615 229
2002 149.000 5129 225
2003 153.000 4884 213
2004 159.000 5278 181
2005 165.000 4437 188
2006 144.000 4034 137
50000 41.056
40000 35.538 34.423 33.195
31.922
26.891 24.012
30000
20000
10000 1.472 1.449 1.510 1.392 1.138 1.139 815
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Fatalities per one million of motorcycles Victims per one million of motorcycles
Figure 4-15: Victims and fatalities per one million of motorcycles in Portugal
71
4.5. Age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents in Spain

Before the RGC alteration,, to pass two theoretical exams and a practical exam was
w necessary
to get type A1 driving licence to people who hold no driving licence. To pass an specific theoretical
exam and the practical exam was necessary to get type A1 driving licence to drivers who have already
got type B driving licence. Nowadays, any
any exam is necessary to get type A1 licence to drivers who
have already got type B licence more than three years before. It is obvious that riders are not so ready
as beforehand. In fact, the rate of accidents has been influenced by the inexperience of the riders,
according to graphic 4.17.
Table 4-5: Age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents in Spain [30]
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
<1 year 1056 987 583 644 794 1453 1894

1 year 1254 1187 1132 841 916 1383 2258
2 years 743 750 790 600 664 707 1118
3-5 years 1303 1430 1184 1667 1618 1653 1594
6-10 years 3733 3010 1597 938 965 1184 1371
>10 years 1099 1367 1159 1551 1499 1543 1431
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000 2006
1500 2005
2004
1000
2003
500 2002
0 2001
<1 year 1 year 2000
2 years 3-5 6-10 <10
years years years
Figure 4-16: Age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents in Spain
72
Riders whose age of driving licence were less or equal to one year have been involved in many
ma
more accidents than before the RGC regulation. In fact, accidents were riders with
th less or equal to
one-year-old
old driving licence were involved, have increased a percentage of 98,86% and 99,55%
respectively.
The rest of categories compared with the mentioned categories have almost not changed their
rates of accidents, excepting the category formed by riders with 6-8-years-old
old driving licence, which
have notably decreased.
2003 2006
695 341 611 875

399 542
405 269 896

700
692 468
less than 1 year old less than 1 year old

1 year old 1 year old
2 years old 2 years old
3-5 years old 3-5 years old
6-10 years old 6-10 years old
more than 10 years old more than 10 years old
Figure 4-17: Age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents in 2003 compared
ompared with 2006 in Spain
The
he percentage covered by riders who hold a less or equal-one-year-old
old driving licence has
strongly increased since 2004. However, many new riders started to run in motorcycle since that year,
so it is normal than the amount of accidents involving users who hold new driving licence increased.
4.6. Manufacture of two-wheeled

two wheeled vehicles in Spain and Portugal
Motorcycle manufacture is very important to the economy of many countries, covering an
important part of the GDP. The motorcycle
motorcy industry business in Europe is worth Euro 10billion to the
European economy [29] and employs 200,000 people covering all members states. In 2005, 2.5million
powered two wheelers of all kinds were sold.
sold. Furthermore of the motorcycle manufacture, many sorts
so
of accessories are related with the motorcycle economy, like motorcycles gloves, glasses, boots,
jackets, etc.
The Spanish manufacture of two-wheeled
two wheeled vehicles had been decreasing year by year since
2001. In fact, 44.400 less motorcycles were manufactures
manufactures in Spain in just two years. However, after
the RGC regulation, the manufacture of two-wheeled
two wheeled vehicles started to increase again. The amount
of manufactured motorcycles in 2006 in Spain exceeded the amount of manufactured motorcycles in
2001.
73
300.000 253.420 253.710

249.472
223.733 230.854
250.000 209.020
200.000
150.000 Spain
100.000 Portugal
50.000 129 123 44 31 61 65

0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Figure 4-18: Manufacture of PTW in Spain and Portugal [30]
After the RGC alteration, many motorcycles industries came up with new 125cc motorcycles
models, facing up with
ith the new market situation [31].
[31]. Some of these new models have
hav been
manufactured in Spanish PTW factories, increasing the number of employers and the units
manufactured, so their benefits. This change in the traffic law was carried out after several years of
bad economic results in the motorcycle industry. Since this
this moment, the motorcycle industry started to
get benefits
efits another time. In fact, [32],
[32], if the traffic law alteration had been carried out beforehand,
before
some motorcycles factories would have avoided to close down due to a long period in bad economic
results.
The Portuguese manufacture of PTW is quite poor.. In addition, the amount of PTW
manufactured in Portugal has decreased since 2001. The amount of manufactured motorcycles
m in
2006 in Portugal was the half of the manufactured motorcycles in 2001.
Considering
g the importance that the two-wheeled
two wheeled vehicles market has in the economy of the
countries, the government should act in this situation as a trying of increasing the amount of
manufactured
ctured motorcycles in Portugal.
4.7. Assessment of the statistics and final solution

Road safety is one of the main
m problems for the developed countries and the first cause of
death and hospital admissions for younger-45-years-old
younger European citizens [2].. Therefore, European
governments are looking for measures to decrease the rate of fatalities and of course, avoiding any
alteration which could raise the number of roads victims or deaths. In the majority of the cases, the
primary accident contributing factor was a human error on the part of the driver of the non-two-wheeler
non
[5].
4.7.1 Advantages and disadvantages of riding in motorcycle

The RGC alteration was carried out in Spain in benefit of the motorcycles and as a trying of
decreasing the amount of cars in roads and the traffic congestion problems related with cars. Due to
theirr size and way of running, motorcycles are quite different method of transport than cars. Thus,
riding in motorcycle presents several important differences compared with cars or another type of four-
four
74
wheeled vehicle. The advantages and disadvantages of running in motorcycle compared with running
in car are shown in the Table 4-6
Table 4-6: Advantages and disadvantages of running in motorcycle compared with running in car
Advantages Disadvantages
Their narrowness and acceleration give them the Motorcycles users are more vulnerable than cars
ability to overtake and to filter past other traffic in drivers due to the lack of crash protection. In fact,
situations where cars cannot [33]. This one was [3] the probability of dying is three times higher to
the main reason why the RGC was changed in riders than to cars users if an accident happens
Spain
The fuel consumption of a vehicle per each Motorcycles are more vulnerable than cars [33]
kilometre depends of many characters, like due to their problems of instability. A motorcycle
power, weight, engine capacity, etc, so every can easily become unstable and capsize if
particular vehicle has its own amount of fuel braking, accelerating or a slippery road surface
consumption per kilometre. This difference causes a wheel to lose adhesion. This is
intensifies even more in motorbikes due to their particularly critical if the machine is taking a
big variety in power and engine capacity. For bend. Furthermore, they are vulnerable to not
instance, the fuel consumption of an under-125cc being seen by car drivers due to their small size
power motorbike is about 2-3 litres per one
hundred kilometres [34] while fuel consumption
of an upper-500cc-power motorbike is more than
the double. Nevertheless, generally, [35] the
average motorcycle fuel consumption is lower
than 55% of the cars fuel consumption. So the
running in motorcycle is a 55% cheaper than the
running in car, associated with the fuel
consumption cost
Due to their lower fuel consumption, obviously Roads are designed to car users or other types
2
motorcycles present a lower CO emission rate or four-wheeled vehicles users [33], being a
2
than cars [36]. The average of CO emission in problem to riders, as the crash barriers, which
cars is 160g/km while the average emission in represents a huge hazard to motorcycles users
motorcycles is about 57,9 g/km
Generally, motorbikes are more economic than Normally motorcycles have not protection from
cars. the outdoor conditions
Motorcycles help to solve the lack of public space Motorcycles present less capacity of carrying
taken by parked cars due to their small size baggage
75
4. Study about the possible Portuguese CE alteration analysing the consequences of the Spanish RGC alteration
4.7.2. Synthesis of the consequences of the Spanish RGC alteration

A European report [8] showed that having gained experience in riding any motorcycle, got by
the possession of a specific licence, results in drivers being less prone to cause crashes with
motorcycles with respect to drivers with no motorcycle licence. It is reasonable to assume that car
drivers who hold a motorcycle licence have acquired more ability in riding and controlling two wheeled
vehicles than drivers without a licence, helping them in the detection of oncoming motorcycles and the
prediction of their manoeuvres. Thus it is possible to affirm that the ridding of motorcycles by the cars
users is beneficial to improve the road safety and to decrease the amount of motorcycle victims and
fatalities. But the real question is if cars user should be trained before driving motorcycles, taking as
an example the current Spanish scene after the RGC alteration in 2004;
• The amount motorcycles registered has increased a percentage of 270, 37% since
2004 until 2006. This huge raise of registration has been shared out among all the
motorcycles categories, but specially in the category affected by the RGC alteration,
under-125cc-power motorcycle, whose percentage of raise has been 690,1%.
• Although motorcycle registration has hugely risen, mopeds sales have fallen in 68.000
units since 2004. This date is opposed to the aim of the government, due to mopeds
designed is as beneficial as the motorcycles one for the traffic congestion.
Nevertheless, 68.000 units are not so important compared with the 199.472
motorcycles else which were sold in the same period.
• The number of roads fatalities has decreased year by year in Spain in all the vehicles
type. However, since the RGC alteration, the total number of fatalities involving
motorcycles has rise a percentage of 31% since 2004. Obviously, the more motorcycles
riders the more fatalities should be. Otherwise, even the number of victims per one
million of motorcycles has increased, the fatalities per one million of motorcycles is still
decreasing in spite of the RGC alteration. In addition, the data of victims and fatalities
analysed belong to all the motorcycles types instead of belonging to under-125cc-power
motorcycles, so is not possible to affirm that the RGC alteration has directly influenced
in the raise of motorcycle roads fatalities.
• The age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents has considerably decreased
since the RGC alteration, being more and more the number of riders holding a less or
equal one-year-old driving licence involved in accidents. First impression could be
thinking that new riders are less trained than the old ones, but should be considered
that since 2004 the amount of new riders has increased a lot, so it is normal than the
number of accidents involving new riders increase too.
• The manufacture of two-wheeled vehicles has increased about a 20% since 2004, what
is quite good considering the economic benefits related with the vehicle manufacture.
76
5 Conclusions and further research
5.1 Conclusions
Portuguese road safety has hugely improved for the last years, even in the PTW subject. This
kind of vehicles should be specially considered because, due to their characteristics, they present one
of the highest probabilities of suffering an accident and dying, in case of accident.
Mopeds were involved in almost one half of the total accidents happened in Portugal in 2007.
However, mopeds fleet is more than 2.5 higher than the all motorcycles fleet together. In fact, one
moped rider has the half of possibilities to be involved in an accident compared with a motorcycle rider
and three times less of dying in case of accident. Within the motorcycle category, the most fatal kind of
motorcycles are >50cc and non-power restricted, being involved in a 42, 55% of the total PTW
fatalities, as a consequence of their designed which allow them run in very high speeds.
The most common cause of PTW accident was side on-crash against a moving vehicle and loss
of control, being present in more than one half of the total PTW accidents. Almost one-third of the total
accidents and fatalities caused by side on-crash happened inside intersection and an important
percentage, in some cases more than one half, of the accidents and fatalities caused by loss of control
took place in bends.
Faro is the most dangerous district involving PTWs accidents, followed by Coimbra, Leiria and
Aveiro, being situated in these districts motorways as the IP5, which has been considered as one of
the most dangerous motorways in the world.
More than 80% of the accidents happened in broad daylight and in good weather conditions.
The most dangerous period of the day is between 17.00 pm and 20.00 pm due to the ending of the
workday, when workers go back home. The rate of accidents moderately increases in weekends when
the riders enjoy their free time increasing the use of the PTW and in summer time, because PTW are
quite more used when weather conditions are good.
A total of eleven real PTW accidents were simulated by the software PC-Crash. Every single
accident is defined by many characteristics and it happens by the succession of different events which
formed the accident. PC-Crash is a great tool to simulate the confused accidents and determining
exactly some factors which influenced the accidents, as acceleration, velocities, etc. All the accidents
were successfully simulated, finding about and corroborating the causes which originated them.
Traffic congestion is one of the main problems in developed countries, being related with
important economic losses associated with wasted time, rise of the environmental pollution and fuel
consumption, etc. Therefore, some European countries have changed their traffic laws in benefit of
motorcycles, which can notably reduce the traffic congestion. Concretely, a law which allows car users
77
5. Conclusions and further research
the driving of the motorcycle hold by the type A1 driving licence has been modified. This changed has
generated a controversy situation because motorcycles fatalities have increased since then.
Spain is one of the countries which has changed the mentioned law allowing car users whose
driving licence were older than three years the driving of A1 motorcycles. Since this changed, the
amount of fatalities and accidents involving motorcycles has notably increased while the road safety
has improved in the other vehicles categories. This rise is due to, among other factors, the huge
increase of motorcycle registration, being higher than 270% compared with last years. Nevertheless,
the rate of fatalities per one thousand motorcycles is still decreasing, so it is not possible affirm that
this law alteration has negative consequences for the road fatalities.
The PTW manufacture employs thousands of people in Europe and notably influences the
GDP, being an important part of the European economy. After the traffic law alteration, the PTW
manufacture has increased in 20% in Spain, generating more employment and benefits.
So considering the many benefits of driving in motorcycle and the current Spanish situation after
the RGC alteration it is possible to affirm that Portugal should change the CE allowing car users the
driving of A1 motorcycles. This new law could notably increase the motorcycle registration in Portugal,
increasing the amount of motorcycle sales and helping the motorcycle industry, which is very little
developed. Furthermore, if the number of riders increases, it will help to solve traffic congestion and
the problem associated with the public space taken by parked cars.
5.2. Future work

First step to try to decrease the amount of road accidents and their consequences is to know
why and how they happen. After being analysed the accidents database involving PTW, a future work
could be a study about the current situation as an intention of listing measures which could decrease
the PTW fatalities and accidents, for instance, giving a better education to drivers with the aim of
training them to develop a mental perception of the PTW users. Other measure could be a deep
analysis involving the most conflictive districts, like Faro, Leiria or Coimbra, studying their roads and
motorways to find about why these districts has the highest rate of accidents of the country, and try to
find a solution for it.
Generally, accidents generate a controversy situation because many times is not clear who can
we blame for the accident, which velocities the vehicles were running, etc. This is even deeper when
one or both of the involving users died in the accident. PC-Crash is a great tool to completely
understand how one accident happened, as a trying of confirming the police reports and finding about
all the accidents characteristics. However, PC-Crash displays of more functions which has not been
used for the present chapter, like the analysis of the multi-body system after one collision, it means,
analysing the body parts which suffered the main injuries to confirm the accidents simulation.
Furthermore, the crashed vehicles can be studied by finite elements software, like ANSYS, analysing
the vehicles deformation after the collision, the stress forces, etc.
The change of a governmental law is a really important decision and the consequences of the
change have to be really expected and controlled. Before the changed of the Portuguese traffic law to
78
5. Conclusions and further research
allow car users the driving of type A1 motorcycles, other examples of European countries should be
studied, like France or Italy, where the alteration of the traffic law was carried out several years before
the Spanish change, so the consequences of the change are clearer to find about a conclusion.
79
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a los automovilistas que deseen conducir motocicletas ligeras, Madrid 2007,
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moto-sem-necessidade-de-licena.html
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82

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ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS INVOLVING TWO-

Christian Caparrós Hernández

Master thesis to obtain the degree of

President: Prof. Dr. Nuno Manuel Maia

Keywords ....................................................................................................................................... iii

List of figures ............................................................................................................................... viii

List of tables .................................................................................................................................. xi

1.1. Motivation .................................................................................................................... 1

1.2. Bibliography revision ................................................................................................... 4

1.3. Goals and thesis structure ........................................................................................... 5

2 Analysis of two-wheeled vehicles accidents in Portugal ............................................................ 6

2.1 Accidents distribution by vehicle type .................................................................................. 6

2.2 Analysis according to the accident cause ........................................................................... 9

2.3.1 Side on-crashes against moving vehicle .................................................................... 17

2.3.2 Loss of control ............................................................................................................. 21

2.3 Geographical and temporal factors ................................................................................... 24

2.3.1 Analysis by district ...................................................................................................... 24

2.3.2 Analysis according to the environmental conditions ................................................... 28

2.3.3. Analysis by time ......................................................................................................... 30

3 Reconstruction of real PTW accidents ..................................................................................... 33

3.1. Methodology used to reconstruct the accidents ........................................................ 33

3.1.1. Reconstruction of the scene of the accident .............................................................. 35

3.1.2. Including vehicles and defining the accidents parameters ........................................ 35

3.2. Real accidents examples.................................................................................................. 35

3.2.1. Side on-crash involving a moped and an automobile ................................................ 36

3.2.2. Side on-crash involving a motorcycle and an automobile ......................................... 38

3.2.3. Pile up involving a passengers automobile and two motorcycles.............................. 40

3.2.4. Oblique crash involving a passenger automobile and a motorcycle ......................... 43

3.2.7. Front-side crash involving a motorcycle and a heavy vehicle ................................... 49

3.2.8. Pile up involving a motorcycle and several vehicles .................................................. 51

3.2.10. Motorcycle collision against a rock wall ................................................................... 56

3.2.11. Motorcycle collision against the road protective system .......................................... 58

3.3 Main conclusions of the accidents ..................................................................................... 60

4.2. Traffic problems in big cities ............................................................................................. 62

4.2.1. Economic costs related with traffic congestion .......................................................... 63

4.3. Register of motor vehicles in Spain and Portugal ............................................................ 64

4.3.1. Register of motorcycles in Spain and Portugal .......................................................... 64

4.3.2. Register of mopeds and cars in Spain ....................................................................... 66

4.4. Road safety in Spain and Portugal ................................................................................... 66

4.2.1. Victims of motorcycles accidents in Spain and Portugal ........................................... 68

4.5. Age of the rider´s driving licence involved in accidents in Spain...................................... 72

4.6. Manufacture of two-wheeled vehicles in Spain and Portugal........................................... 73

4.7. Assessment of the statistics and final solution ................................................................. 74

4.7.1 Advantages and disadvantages of riding in motorcycle ............................................. 74

4.7.2. Synthesis of the consequences of the Spanish RGC alteration ................................ 76

5 Conclusions and further research ............................................................................................ 77

5.1 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 77

5.2. Future work ....................................................................................................................... 78

Figure 1-1: Fatalities per one million of inhabitants in Europe [1]

1.2. Bibliography revision

1.3. Goals and thesis structure

2000 1006 906

2.1 Accidents distribution by vehicle type

Table 2-1: Accidents frequency by PTW category in 2007 [11]

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

Figure 2-5: Slightly injuries by vehicle category in 2007

2.2 Analysis according to the accident cause

Animal knocked down 0,00%

Pedestrian knocked down 1,79%

Pile up collision 0,00%

Hit and run 0,00%

Collision involving stopped vehicles or obstacles 1,79%

Collision involving other situations 5,36%