title: Powered two-wheeler drivers' risk of hitting a pedestrian in towns.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The risk of collision between pedestrians and powered two-wheelers is poorly understood today. The objective of this research is to determine the risk for powered two-wheeler drivers of hitting and injuring a pedestrian per kilometer driven in towns and to compare this risk with that run by four-wheeled vehicle drivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the bodily injury accidents recorded by the police on nine roads in the city of Marseille in 2011 and a campaign of observations of powered two-wheeler traffic, we estimated the risk per kilometer driven by powered two-wheeler drivers of hitting a pedestrian and compared it with the risk run by four-wheeled vehicle drivers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results show that the risk for powered two-wheeler drivers of hitting and injuring a pedestrian is significantly higher than the risk run by four-wheeled vehicle drivers. On the nine roads studied, it is on average 3.33 times higher (95% CI: 1.63; 6.78). Taking four more years into account made it possible to consolidate these results and to tighten the confidence interval.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There does indeed seem to be problems in the interactions between pedestrians and powered two-wheeler users in urban traffic. These interaction problems lead to a higher risk of hitting and injuring a pedestrian for powered two-wheeler drivers than for four-wheeled vehicle drivers. The analysis of the police reports suggests that part of this increased risk comes from filtering maneuvers by powered two-wheelers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Possible countermeasures deal with the urban street layout. Measures consisting in reducing the width and the number of traffic lanes to a strict minimum and installing medians or pedestrian islands could be an effective way for the prevention of urban accidents between pedestrians and powered two-wheelers.
authors.affiliation: IFSTTAR, French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks, Laboratory of Accident Mechanism Analysis, 304 chemin de la Croix Blanche, F-13300 Salon de Provence, France. Electronic address: nicolas.clabaux@ifsttar.fr.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Clabaux
authors.affiliation: IFSTTAR, French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks, Laboratory of Accident Mechanism Analysis, 304 chemin de la Croix Blanche, F-13300 Salon de Provence, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Yves
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.affiliation: IFSTTAR, French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks, Laboratory of Accident Mechanism Analysis, 304 chemin de la Croix Blanche, F-13300 Salon de Provence, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Emmanuel
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Michel
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D009049:Motorcycles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016495:Police; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016138:Walking / Q000293:injuries* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Crash risk; Moped; Motorcycle; Pedestrian; Powered two-wheelers