Impact of COVID-19 on Safety Performance for Motorcycles: Pre-and during-Pandemic Conditions

Florida has the highest number of motorcycle fatalities in the United States and contains the second largest population of registered motorcycles. The COVID-19 pandemic influenced the roads, traffic, and driving behavior in the continental United States. Motorcycle crashes decreased during the COVID-19 years (2020 and 2021) while the fatality rates increased. The purpose of this study is to 1) investigate motorcycle crashes before and during the Pandemic period to understand the impacts on motorcycle safety and contributing factors to the crash severity levels;2) develop the crash predictive model for different degrees of severity in motorcycle crashes in Florida. Florida statewide crash data were collected. T tests have been conducted to compare the contributing factors between two periods. The injury severities are significantly different among all five levels between those during normal period and the Pandemic period. A crash predictive model has been developed to determine the facts to injury severity levels for motorcycle crashes. A total of eight variables are found to significantly increase the injury severity levels for motorcycle crashes during the Pandemic period.

Enhancing Urban Mobility: Exploring the Potential of Exclusive Motorcycle Lane Using VISSIM

The proliferation of Mobility on Demand (MOD) services has ushered in a surge of ridesharing platforms, catalyzing the emergence of micro mobility solutions like motorcycle sharing. Consequently, motorcycles have witnessed unprecedented growth over recent decades. This proliferation, while offering convenience, has introduced challenges such as diminished road capacity, and compromised safety. This study advocates for the implementation of exclusive motorcycle lanes to mitigate the ensuing disorderliness using VISSIM microsimulation platform. Empirical data from a key corridor in Dhaka is harnessed to calibrate and simulate network performance scenarios—pre- and post-implementation of dedicated motorcycle lanes. The outcomes of our simulation experiments exhibit the implementation of dedicated motorcycle lanes leads to a reduction in vehicular throughput but improvement the flow of motorcycles. In addition, Surrogate Safety Measures (SSMs) demonstrate the safety improvements through implementation of the treatment.

Scrotal Trauma in a Motorcycle Accident Leading to a Partial Orchidectomy: Case Report

Scrotal trauma in motorcycle accidents (STMA) is a rare entity in the literature. In general, trauma to the genitals is not life-threatening. However, STMA can cause rupture of the testis with consequences that can lead to alteration of sexuality and reproduction. We present an STMA case managed in a rural hospital where various types of injuries arise from motorcycle accidents. A 20-year-old man without any previous pathology presented in our hospital with a swollen painful scrotum. One week prior to presentation, the patient with a speeding motorbike drove over a speed bump, and the frame of his motorcycle broke into two halves, violently striking his genitals and causing scrotal trauma. After examination and investigation, patient has consented to scrotal exploration which was carried out. A partial left orchidectomy was performed and the right testicle was healthy. The evolution was favorable and the patient was discharged on the 5th postoperative day. Prognosis at 6 months was good. It is possible that genital trauma related to motorcycle accidents will become more frequent in the future. This underscores the importance of educating motorcyclists to respect the Highway Code;and making practitioners aware of the risk of serious injury in the event of acute scrotal trauma.

Urban Accessibility in Motorcycle Dependent Cities - Case Study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Motorcycle dependent cities have specific characteristics in terms of urban accessibility.A rapid increase in the number of motorcycles and other private motorized modes make transport problems more serious and cause severe capacity problems for the infrastructure systems in these cities.Therefore,it is necessary to optimize the development of different modes to meet travel demand and to ensure accessibility in all urban areas.This paper aims to explore accessibility conditions in Ho Chi Minh City,a typical motorcycle dependent city in Vietnam.Understanding of accessibility could be the key element for urban planning in Ho Chi Minh City in particular and motorcycle dependent cities in general.Then,management measures for motorcycles and competitive modes will be proposed to improve the accessibility conditions and thus support sustainable urban transport development for motorcycle dependent cities.

INVESTIGATION IN REDUCING EXHAUST EMISSIONS FROM TWO STROKE MOTORCYCLES

Test results of reducing two stroke motorcycle emissions with new type carburettors and electronic fuel injection systems are presented. Analyses and comparison between different systems are discussed. The adoption of electronically controlled injection and corresponding electronic control technique is an effective measure of prolonged vitality to improve emissions from two stroke motorcycles. Suggestions about the strategic steps of China′s motorcycle emission control are proposed.

Research on Transient Response of Motorcycle with One Tire Colliding on Ground

Aim To study the transient response of motorcycle with one tire colliding on ground. Methods Taking the colliding velocity as an independent variable, the changing law of the biggest collision inertia load of motorcycle′s sprung mass, unsprung mass and driver was studied, while its front and rear tire colliding on ground respectively.Results and Conclusion According to the working conditions of motorcycle shock absorbers and the characteristic of response curve, the transient response of the acceleration, the velocity and the displacement were discussed section by section. And the result of simulating the actual JH125 motorcycle was given.

Performance of Pd/CeO_2-ZrO_2-Al_2O_3 catalyst for motorcycle

The Pd-only catalysts for motorcycle were prepared by impregnating CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 and CeO2-ZrO2+Al2O3 with PdCl2 aqueous solution and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), oxygen storage capacity (OSC) and H2-temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR) methods. The XRD result indicated that the CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 compound prepared by co-precipitation formed a single solid solution and had good thermal stability, and Pd phase was not observed in all catalysts. The TPR results showed that the reduction temperature of Pd/CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 catalyst was lower than that of Pd/CeO2-ZrO2+Al2O3 catalyst whether they were fresh or aged catalysts. The Pd/CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 exhibited high three-way catalytic activity at low temperature, high thermal stability, and wide working window, suggesting a great potential for applications.

Assessment of Benchmark Dose in BEAS-2B Cells by Evaluating the Cell Relative Viability with Particulates in Motorcycle Exhaust via the Air-liquid Interface Exposure

Objective This study aimed to use an air-liquid interface(ALI)exposure system to simulate the inhalation exposure of motorcycle exhaust particulates(MEPs)and then investigate the benchmark dose(BMD)of MEPs by evaluating cell relative viability(CRV)in lung epithelial BEAS-2B cells.Methods The MEPs dose was characterized by measuring the number concentration(NC),surface area concentration(SAC),and mass concentration(MC).BEAS-2B cells were exposed to MEPs at different concentrations via ALI and CRV was determined using Cell Counting Kit(CCK-8)assay.BMD software was applied to calculate BMD and the lower limit of benchmark dose(BMDL)according to Akaike Information Coefficient(AIC),with P-value based on Hill,Linear,Polynomial,and Power model.Results Our results reveal that BMD of NC and SAC were estimated by the best-fitting Hill model,while MC was estimated by Polynomial model.The BMDL for CRV following ALI exposure to MEPs were as follows:364.2#/cm^(3)for NC;0.662×10^(7)nm^(2)/cm^(3)for SAC;and 0.278μg/m^(3)for MC.Conclusion These results indicate that MEPs exposure via ALI system induces a dose-dependent decrease of CRV and provides the potential exposure threshold of MEPs in a lung cell model.

Dynamic Response of Functional Virtual Prototyping of Motorcycle under Combined Excitations

This paper developed 3D product models of motorcycle and engine by UGNX as well as virtual prototyping by ADAMS program with road roughness generated by MATLAB. Under the straight-line running condition, the dynamic responses of motorcycle multibody system to both road and engine excitations were compared with those to only road excitation in terms of vertical acceleration response, amplitude frequency response and power spectral density. The comparisons of simulation data showed that the response due to flat road excitation was around 20 Hz, while that to the combined excitations was in a wide frequency band, of which the major components focused on 10 Hz, 15 Hz, 35 Hz ,70 Hz, 100 Hz and even higher frequencies, reflecting the characteristics of engine excitation based on its unbalanced inertia force and torque. It is concluded that the high fidelity virtual prototyping can simulate the dynamics of motorcycle product well in investigating the vibration and ride comfort performance.

Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Research of Goal Attainment of Green Transportation Development Policy —Take Dongguan “Motorcycle Ban” Policy as an Example

Launching the evaluation research of green transportation can grasp the green transportation implementation accurately and diagnose the existing problems. From the perspective of green transportation, this research chose Dongguan “motorcycle ban” policy as the research object, and constructed secondary evaluation index system in transportation and environmental harmony, transportation and future harmony, transportation and society harmony, transportation and resource harmony, four dimensions. Then it used fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model to do the evaluation and found that the policy’s positive effect on the Dongguan green transportation development was average. Finally, based on the evaluation results, measures and advices were proposed.

Driving Cycle for Motorcycle Using Micro-Simulation Model

Driving cycle of vehicle has been used in emission estimation and fuel consumption study. Existing method of data collection using car chasing technique is expensive. The technique using micro simulation approach is cheaper and fast to derive the driving cycle. In this paper a traffic simulation model Driving Cycle Micro-Simulation Model for Motorcycle has been developed. The issue of lateral and longitudinal movement aspect in motorcycle driving has been examined in the model. Parameters to cover such movement have been built in the model and applied on a stretch in Edinburgh city of Scotland. Results from model have been both calibrated and validated. The results show that Driving Cycle Micro-Simulation Model for Motorcycle gives better representation of driving cycle and it can be used to understand the effect of driving modes on emission for better understanding of vehicular emission control.

Modeling and Evaluation of the Impact of Motorcycles Mobility on Vehicular Traffic

Traffic simulation can help to evaluate the impact of different mobility behaviors on the traffic flow from safety, efficiency, and environmental views. The objective of this paper is to extend the SUMO (Simulation of Urban Mobility) road traffic simulator to model and evaluate the impact of motorcycles mobility on vehicular traffic. First, we go through diverse mobility aspects and models for motorcycles in SUMO. Later, we opt for the most suitable mobility models of motorcycles. Finally, the impact of motorcycle mobility on different kinds of vehicles is investigated in terms of environment, fuel consumption, velocity and travel time. The result of modeling and evaluation shows that based on the mobility model of the motorcycle, vehicular traffic flow can be enhanced or deteriorated.

Research on a Dispersed Networked CAD/CAM System of Motorcycle

In order to improve competitive ability of market, mo torcycle enterprises, special the small and middle sized ones must use IT to org anize social resource and adopt effective production mode, namely the dispersed networked design and manufacturing (DNDM), which was put forward and proved to b e one of vitality production modes in recent years. In responding to the new pro duction mode of VMCE, a dispersed networked CAD/CAM system (DNCADMS) of motorcyc le products should be developed. The objective of this paper is to investigate a new design and manufacturing mode and technical environment of motorcycle produ ction based on the concept of the DNDM for the small and meddle sized motorcycle enterprises. Because there are various CAx software systems, including differen t kinds of isolated CD, CAD, CAE, CAPP, CAM, PDM, and so on, are used at differe nt stages of the life period of motorcycle products under heterogeneous environm ents, to build a DNCADMS of motorcycle with high performance, some key issues, n amely the architecture of the DNCADMS, the integration of the isolated CAx softw are systems (CAxs), the data communication and exchange between these isolated s ystems and the data share problem under the dispersed heterogeneous database env ironment, should be solved well. For this, the idea we propose is the combinatio n of Web, CORBA, STEP and Java, which provides an effective mechanism to support the integration of isolated CAxs, and support communication and interoperabilit y among CAx systems. Each isolated CAx has been encapsulated respectively by a c ontainer, which is implemented by the ORBs and the IDL of the COBRA technology s tandard, and managed by the application index server. Each container is connecte d with the others by a local network or intranet/Extranet/internet and communica tes through network. For exchanging design and manufacturing information and kno wledge via a local network or the Internet, a commmerical product data translato r has been employed as a product data translating server to complete product dat a communication and exchange between the isolated CAx systems. And for solving t he data share problem under the dispersed networked heterogeneous database envir onment, the idea we propose is to build a meta-database for the native database s, which is a dispersed database, and links various native databases into a whol e logical database. For managing the meta-database, the database index server, a Java-based integrating mechanism, has been also put forward in this paper. Th e application and database index servers have been implemented with Java lan guage. Moreover, the native data base and knowledge base related to each isolate d CAx are be integrated into a dispersed database system by a meta-base.

Three-dimensional transient numerical simulation for gas exchange process in a four-stroke motorcycle engine

Three-dimensional transient numerical simulation of gas exchange process in a four-stroke motorcycle engine with a semi-spherical combustion chamber with two tilt valves was studied. Combination of the grid re-meshing method and the snapper technique made the valves move smoothly. The flow structure and pattern in a complete engine cycle were described in detail. Tumble ratios around the x-axis and y-axis were analyzed. Comparison of computed pressure with experimental pressure under motored condition revealed that the simulation had high calculation precision; CFD simulation can be regarded as an im-portant tool for resolving the complex aerodynamic behavior in motorcycle engines.

A Practical Permanent Magnetic Motor Drive for Hybrid Motorcycle

A novel embedded-type permanent magnetic motor for hybrid motorcycle, which employs asymmetric design of eccentric air-gap, is proposed in the paper. This special design of air-gap well conforms to the mono-directional operation characteristic of motorcycle and effectively suppresses the distortion of air-gap magnetic field caused by armature reaction. Hence the torque ripple is reduced. A drive system consisting of the newly-designed Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet synchronous motor and parallel-MOSFET three-phase inverter for hybrid motorcycle propulsion is established. Wide-range speed operation is realized through a simple and novel control strategy. Computer simulation is described and experimental results given to verify the practicality of the proposed motor design and control strategy.

A Matlab-Based Simulation for Hybrid Electric Motorcycle

This paper presents a simulation and modeling package based on Matlab for a parallel hybrid electric motorcycle (HEM). The package consists of several main detailed models: internal combustion engine (ICE), motor, continuously variable transmission (CVT), battery, energy management system (EMS) etc . Each component is built as a library, and can be connected together according to the parallel HEM's topology. Simulation results, such as ICE power demand, motor power demand, battery instantaneous state of charge (SOC), pollution emissions etc. are given and discussed. Lastly experimental data verify our simulation results.

Modification of the Genetic Polymorphism of Glutathione-S-Transferase (GSTM1 and GSTT1) in Motorcycle Drivers Exposed to BTEX in Cotonou

The glutathione-S-transferase genes mainly the GSTM1 and GSTT1 alleles are responsible for the synthesis of detoxication enzymes that can remove toxic substances. The objective of this study is to seek changes in the genetic polymorphism of glutathione-S-transferase GSTM1 and GSTT1 in motorcycle drivers exposed to BTEX. Our study group consists of 60 motorcycle drivers including 30 professional and 30 non-professional. Blood samples were preleveled from the study population in the EDTA tubes and DNA was extracted by the phenol/chloroform method. The PCR technique was used to determine the presence or absence of genes. Our results showed that the percentage of GSTM1 null genotype has a statistically significant difference (P = 0.02), while the percentage of GSTT1 null genotype was non-significant (P = 0.76) between the two groups. The percentage of deletion of both genes is higher in professional than non-professional motorcycle drivers. Air pollution in Cotonou by BTEX seems to influence the deletion of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes at a higher percentage among professional than non-professional motorcycle drivers.

Emission Performance of Motorcycles in Real-Road Conditions

WMTC,which means a worldwide motorcycle testing cycle,is now regarded as the most possible choice for the global motorcycle emission testing cycle,but whether or not it can be used in China is still unknown.In this study,a large number of data on the speed-time trace of motorcycles were sampled from various kinds of roads in 5 cities in China.Based on a series of criterion numbers defined,the driving character of motorcycles in the real-road conditions of China was obtained.With the aid of a specially designed program,an emission testing cycle that can indicate the driving characteristics of motorcycle in the real-road conditions was synthesized,and the exhaust emission tests of 20 motorcycles under the synchronized cycle and WMTC were carried out based on a CVS system and a motorcycle chassis dynamometer.The results show that although there do exist differences in some criterion numbers between the real-road condition and WMTC,such as proportion of idling mode,mean speed,mean running speed and the average acceleration and deceleration rates,the driving behaviors are similar.The results of exhaust emission tests indicate that the emission values of motorcycles under the synchronized cycle and WMTC have a relatively strong correlation.This means that WMTC can be introduced as a standard motorcycle emission test regulation into China.

Investigation Motorcycle Safety at Exit Ramp Sections by Analyzing Historical Crash Data and Rider’s Perception

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety performance of four exit ramp types and the major contributing factors on motorcycle crashes and injury severity of motorcycle riders. A six-year crash data were collected in Florida, and a web-based survey (234 samples) was conducted. 573 crashes were found at 419 exits, including 178 diamond exits, 71 directional exits, 85 loop exits and 85 outer connection exits. For a diamond exit, both the survey and crash data showed that this type was safer and more preferable by motorcycle riders;while a loop exit was the most dangerous exit due to the sharp curve and a certain length of curve with limited visibility. For a directional exit, longer ramp lengths and the reverse curvature are the major factors causing motorcycle crashes. For an outer connection exit, the riders rated it as a safe type;however, the data showed higher average crash frequency and rate than those at diamond exits or directional exits. The possible reason could be the unexpected curvature in the middle of the ramp, which could be dangerous if the rider is not familiar with the exit ramp location or doesn’t pay attention to the ramp curvatures. The crash predictive model was developed, and the result indicated that if all remained the same, a directional exit, a loop exit, or an outer connection exit will have 16%, 27%, and 42% more crashes than a diamond exit, respectively. The findings from this study can help policy-makers and engineers to develop and apply effective countermeasures to reduce motorcycle crashes and injury severity levels for different exit ramp types.

Performance Assessment of Motorcycle Operation, as a Means of Urban Mobility in Lokoja, Nigeria

Motorcycles contribute significantly to the number of automobiles on the roads in Lokoja, Nigeria. This scenario is attributable to pitiable public transport supply and bad roads that are synonymous to the country Nigeria. Motorcycles are the major means of urban mobility in Lokoja due to the fact that the available taxies within the town operate within a designed route only (Felele-Army Barrack and Ganaja-Felele, vice-versa). The situations have led to high increases in the number of motorcycle operators and patronages in Lokoja. To this fact, the paper assessed motorcycle operation as means of urban mobility in Lokoja. The study was conducted using questionnaires and field observation to collect the required data. Data were also collected from the Federal Road Safety Commission and Commercial Motorcycle Association of Nigeria, Lokoja to compliment the data collected from the commercial motorcycle operators and passengers in the study area. The weekly records of movement were sourced from Okada Riders Association in Lokoja. A total of 1125 commercial operators and 4000 commuters were arrived, while 10% of the populations were sampled. Altogether 113 commercial motorcycle operators and 400 passengers were sampled respectively and this amounted to 513 samples. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages were employed in the data analysis. Findings revealed that unemployment situation in the state have led many people, particularly the youth, into the commercial motorcycle operation in the city and the ability to provide door-to-door service have made many people patronize commercial motorcycle in the area. On this note, Government should create more job opportunities, introduce the use of three wheel cycles and improve on the operational efficiencies of city taxies which will go a long way in reducing road accidents and thus reducing the influx of commercial motorcycles.