For the past decade, motorcycle fatalities have risen while other motor vehicle fatalities have declined. Many motorcycle fatalities occurred within intersections after a driver failed to see a motorcyclist. However, little is known about the behavior of motorcyclists when they negotiate an intersection. A study was undertaken to compare the behavior at intersections of an experienced group of motorcyclists when they were operating a motorcycle with their behavior when they were driving a car. Each participant navigated a course through low-volume, open roads. Participants wore eye-tracking equipment to record eye-glance information, and the motorcycle and car were instrumented with an onboard accelerometer and Global Positioning System apparatus. Results showed that participants were more likely to make last glances toward the direction of the most threatening traffic before they made a turn when they were driving a car than when they were riding a motorcycle. In addition, motorcyclists were less likely to come to a complete stop at a stop sign than car drivers. These results suggested that motorcyclists were exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. Specifically, motorcyclists frequently failed to make proper glances and practice optimal riding techniques. The behavior of the motorcyclists was compared with the current Motorcycle Safety Foundation curriculum. The results suggested that threat-response and delayed-apex techniques should be added to the training curriculum.

The goal of this study was to model the dynamic failure properties of ligaments and their attachment sites to facilitate the development of more realistic dynamic finite element models of the human lower extremities for use in automotive collision simulations. Porcine medial collateral ligaments were chosen as a test model due to their similarities in size and geometry with human ligaments. Each porcine medial collateral ligament-bone complex (n = 12) was held in a custom test fixture placed in a drop tower to apply an axial impulsive impact load, applying strain rates ranging from 0.005 s-1 to 145 s-1. The data from the impact tests were analyzed using nonlinear regression to construct model equations for predicting the failure load of ligament-bone complexes subjected to specific strain rates as calculated from finite element knee, thigh, and hip impact simulations. The majority of the ligaments tested failed by tibial avulsion (75%) while the remaining ligaments failed via mid-substance tearing. The failure load ranged from 384 N to 1184 N and was found to increase with the applied strain rate and the product of ligament length and cross-sectional area. The findings of this study indicate the force required to rupture the porcine MCL increases with the applied bone-to-bone strain rate in the range expected from high speed frontal automotive collisions.

Summary:The vulnerability of motorcyclists makes them the user group with the highest likelihood of a fatality on roads, a significant proportion of which occur at unsignalized intersections. The current research compares the scanning behaviors of two cohorts of participants at two different intersections involving a right turn. This on-road study included two cohorts: a 'driver-rider' group consisting of 20 participants who were both, licensed to drive and held an endorsement to ride a motorcycle, and a second 'driver-only' cohort comprising 10 participants who only held a driver license. Two types of comparisons were made: the number of anticipatory glances of the driver-rider at the two right intersections, both before and after the intersection, were compared when riding and driving across the same two intersections. Drivers-only completed the test route once while the driverriders navigated the same route once while riding, and a second time while driving, the exact order counterbalanced across all participants. The results showed that driver-rider made significantly more glances to the left when riding compared when driving after the intersection than before, while they made more glances to the right after the entry than before the intersection.

The focus of the research was to address the crash avoidance behaviors of drivers versus motorcyclists. Avoidance tasks include, attention maintenance and hazard anticipation measured with glance behaviors, and hazard mitigation measured with response times and deceleration. Specifically, where might the driver behavior be similar or different than that of a motorcyclist? The performances of 23participants were analyzed while they drove a car and rode a motorcycle over the same low-volume, open roads. Participants wore eye-tracking equipment used to record eye-glance information while the motorcycle and car were instrumented with an on-board accelerometer and GPS apparatus. Operators also responded by braking quickly to a stop when an LED, mounted in front of them, was illuminated. Motorcyclists spent less time glancing toward the road ahead and made fewer last-glances toward the direction of most threatening traffic before turning when riding the motorcycle, as opposed to when driving a car. Additionally, motorcyclists' response times were similar to those when driving, yet motorcyclists decelerated less sharply compared to drivers. These results suggest that riders may be exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. Specifically, motorcyclists frequently failed to make proper glances and practice optimal riding techniques. The implication of these results relative to a training curriculum is discussed.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">With ABS-equipped motorcycles becoming more pervasive, it is critical for collision reconstructionists to have a firm understanding of what evidence may be generated during aggressive braking events performed with these braking systems. To develop a better understanding, thirty-one instrumented braking tests were performed and are reported in this study. Three different surfaces using three current ABS-equipped motorcycles were used to study the residual visible roadway and tire evidence resulting from hard braking events involving front-only, rear-only, and maximum effort braking maneuvers. Data from these tests were analyzed to determine the resultant deceleration, which serves to add updated data to the current body of knowledge.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The majority of braking tests did not generate visible roadway evidence. Specifically, conventional public roadway surfaces exhibited no evidence of braking until the motorcycles reached very low speeds. One surface, a residential roadway with a recently applied chip seal, repeatedly displayed evidence of braking in the form of subtle, light discolorations. Conversely, all test runs produced distinct circumferential speckling on the braked tire(s) that was accompanied by localized tread abrasion when intermittent locking occurred. The average decelerations achieved during the braking maneuvers were -0.42 g, -0.80 g, -0.88 g for rear-only, front-only, and both brake configurations, respectively. These findings demonstrate modern ABS-equipped motorcycles are not likely to generate discernible roadway evidence as result of a hard braking event and highlight the need to promptly document the tires of a motorcycle involved in a collision, as the tire offers the most reliable evidence of hard braking.</div></div>