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A systematic literature review on safety interventions for motorcyclists

Author(s): Ghayeninezhad, Range, Lavallire

Slidedeck Presentation:

Safety interventions for motorcyclists_ Ghayeninezhad

Abstract:

Background:

Yearly, 1.35 million people die in road accidents around the world and 28% of these fatalities are motorcyclists. Moreover, injuries sustained by motorcyclists are more frequent and more severe than for other drivers. With the exception of helmet usage, information is scarce in regards of regulations or interventions aimed at motorcyclists to improve their safety on the road. Post-licence training has been recently proposed as a viable and effective solution for increasing their safety. However, post-training effects have been shown uncertain in some studies, especially in the case of non-compulsory training.

Aims:

The aim of this study is to synthesize current knowledge on the effectiveness of post-license interventions aimed at motorcyclists.

Methods:

A systematic literature review was conducted using the keywords “motorcycle or motorcyclist” and “training or intervention,” and not including “helmet or helmets” from “PubMed” database covering a period from January 2010 to May 2021. Then, a single-blind analysis of the title and abstract was conducted by two reviewers in order to select relevant papers. For the current review, any interventions other than law enforcements and helmet use interventions were included. After this first screening, the remaining papers were fully reviewed and selected for exclusion or inclusion for a full data extraction (PICO: population, intervention, control group, outcome). The effectiveness of the programs identified was documented based on either collision statistics, violation rates, behaviours, knowledge and attitudes.

Results:

Out of 407 papers primarily extracted from PubMed, only five papers actually studied the effectiveness of an intervention among motorcyclists. All these five papers used education programs with a theory approach (classroom setting) or with the practice of motorcycle handling for simulated at-risk situations. More specifically, two studies used on-road data collection and one of then did not find any changes after the intervention. Four papers reported results based on questionnaires where knowledge of road signs was remarkably improved post-training and this effect remained on the long-term.

Discussion:

Knowledge on the effectiveness of post-license interventions for motorcyclists is very limited and the main reason identified with this review is the lack of well-defined dependant variables. Though, by summarizing the outcomes of these five papers, some suggestions are presented with goals/solutions. First, how to perform an intervention with a probable higher efficiency. For instance, programs which emphasize on hazard perception, reminding signs, and avoiding potential dangers could have better advantages on driving performance has shown with car drivers. Secondly, we suggest that such interventions should also be evaluated on their long-term impact in order to assess how frequently these interventions should be completed to reach their full potential in enhancing road safety Finally, presence of random control group is strongly suggested whenever possible to guaranty the causal effect of the interventions.

Conclusions:

Based on this review, there is not enough evidence to regulate, or mandate the participation in such programs for motorcyclists’ safety. And while the programs evaluated here seem beneficial to improve safety of motorcyclists, it is yet unclear what is the process behind this improvement.