title: Motorcycle safety among motorcycle taxi drivers and nonoccupational motorcyclists in developing countries: A case study of Maoming, South China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  An increasing number of motorcycle taxis have been involved in traffic crashes in many developing countries. This study examines the characteristics of both motorcycle taxi drivers and nonoccupational motorcyclists, investigates the risks they pose to road safety, and provides recommendations to minimize their risks.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on the data collected from a questionnaire survey of 867 motorcycle taxi drivers and 2,029 nonoccupational motorcyclists in Maoming, South China, comparisons were made to analyze differences of personal attributes, attitudes toward road safety, and self-reported behavior of the 2 groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results of the chi-square tests show that not only motorcycle taxi drivers but also nonoccupational motorcyclists in Maoming held poor attitudes toward road safety and both groups reported unsafe driving behavior. There is much room for improving local road safety education among all motorcyclists in Maoming. Yet, motorcycle taxi drivers were more likely to pose road safety risks than nonoccupational motorcyclists under some circumstances, such as speeding late at night or early in the morning, not requiring passengers to wear helmets, and running a red light. The results of the binary logistic regression model show that possessing a vehicle license for a motorcycle or not was the common significant predictor for unsafe driving behavior of motorcycle taxi drivers and nonoccupational motorcyclists. Therefore, enforcement against all motorcyclists not showing vehicle licenses for their motorcycles should be stepped up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Motorcycle safety is largely poor in Maoming. Therefore, efforts to improve motorcycle safety should be strengthened by targeting not only motorcycle taxi drivers but also nonoccupational motorcyclists.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Geography , The University of Hong Kong , Pokfulam , Hong Kong , China.
authors.forename: Connor Y H
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Geography , The University of Hong Kong , Pokfulam , Hong Kong , China.
authors.forename: Becky P Y
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Loo
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001290:Attitude; D002681:China; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006260:Head Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008004:Licensure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009049:Motorcycles; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012449:Safety; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: binary logistic regression; motorcycle safety; motorcycle taxi drivers; questionnaire survey