Transport and Road Safety-TARS Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Traffic Inj Prev. 2013;14(7):756-65. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2012.752077.
Roadside barriers are often deployed between road users and fixed hazards to protect users from injury. However, the United States and Australian Roadside Design Guides do not consider motorcyclists in the risk-based decision process for the deployment of a barrier, because the severity indices for barriers and fixed hazards were developed for passenger vehicles. The aim of the present article is to quantify the protective effect of barriers with regards to motorcyclist injury and to thereby inform the Roadside Design Guides as to the relative severity of roadside hazards and infrastructure for motorcyclists.
A retrospective case series study, using linked police-reported road crash and hospital admission data in New South Wales, Australia, from 2001 to 2009 was performed. Crude and adjusted relative risks of motorcyclist serious injury were determined for various fixed objects compared to barriers, using serious injury rates and multiple variable logistic regression. Calculated relative risks compared with guardrail for motorcyclists were compared with those determined from the United States and Australian Roadside Design Guides for passenger vehicle occupants.
The study identified 1364 motorcyclists injured as a result of single-vehicle collisions with roadside barriers, trees, utility poles, and other fixed roadside infrastructure. Trees, posts, and utility poles were shown to provide significantly higher risks of serious injury to motorcyclists compared to barriers. This was also found to be true for serious injuries to particular body regions, such as the head, spine, and torso. The results for motorcyclists were in reasonable agreement with those derived from severity indices in the United States and Australian Roadside Design Guides for passenger vehicle occupants.
Roadside barriers provide a significant reduction in the risk of serious injury to motorcyclists compared to various roadside hazards. The provisions in the United States and Australian Roadside Design Guides for passenger vehicle occupants are generally applicable to motorcyclists and support the prior and ongoing use of such guides for designing roadsides that reduce the risk of injury to motorcyclists. However, a more realistic estimation might be derived by increasing the severity indices for barriers by around 25 percent for motorcyclists.
路侧护栏通常设置在道路使用者和固定障碍物之间，以保护使用者免受伤害。然而，美国和澳大利亚的路侧设计指南在基于风险的护栏部署决策过程中并未考虑摩托车手，因为护栏和固定障碍物的严重程度指数是为乘用车开发的。本文的目的是量化护栏对摩托车手伤害的保护作用，并据此为路侧设计指南提供有关摩托车手和基础设施相关路侧危险的相对严重程度的信息。
本研究采用回顾性病例系列研究方法，使用澳大利亚新南威尔士州 2001 年至 2009 年的警方报告道路事故和医院入院数据。使用严重伤害发生率和多变量逻辑回归，对各种固定物体与护栏相比，确定摩托车手严重伤害的粗相对风险和调整后相对风险。与护栏相比，计算出的摩托车手相对风险与美国和澳大利亚路侧设计指南中确定的乘用车乘客的相对风险进行了比较。
研究共确定了 1364 名因与路侧护栏、树木、电线杆和其他固定路侧基础设施发生单车碰撞而受伤的摩托车手。结果表明，与护栏相比，树木、电线杆和电线杆对摩托车手造成严重伤害的风险显著更高。这对于头部、脊柱和躯干等特定身体部位的严重伤害也是如此。研究结果与美国和澳大利亚路侧设计指南中为乘用车乘客确定的严重程度指数基本一致。
与各种路侧危险相比，路侧护栏可显著降低摩托车手严重受伤的风险。美国和澳大利亚路侧设计指南中的规定通常适用于摩托车手，并支持使用这些指南来设计降低摩托车手受伤风险的路侧。然而，通过将护栏的严重程度指数提高约 25%，可能会得出更现实的估计。
