Prototypical accident scenarios involving powered two-wheelers in urban areas in France and prospects for countermeasures

Moped and motorcycle riders, along with pedestrians and cyclists, constitute a category of road users who are particularly vulnerable in case of accident, given that the slightest collision exposes them to injury. The growth in the use of powered two-wheelers in towns and the over-involvement of this category of users in injury accidents demonstrate the need for a better understanding of powered two-wheeler accident phenomena in order to develop countermeasures, notably through road engineering. This research uses an indepth, qualitative analysis of a representative sampling of 278 police reports on urban accidents involving at least one powered two-wheeler and the concentration of these accidents in prototypical accident scenarios. Twenty-five prototypical accident scenarios accounting for approximately 80% of the accidents in the sampling were drawn up and were used to demonstrate the influence of certain engineering choices in the production of accidents among this category of users. The principal prototypical scenarios are presented in detail in this article. Possibilities for engineering countermeasures based on these prototypical scenarios are discusses at the end of the article.