2020 Volume 31 Pages 31-36
In this study, the risk factors of bicycle accidents at intersections are analyzed, considering intersections geometric features and bicycle road in the central business district area of Nagoya-city, Japan, between the years 2006 and 2015. From the basic descriptive statistics, bicycle accidents frequently occurred at intersections: 79% in Nagoya and 77% in the study area. To evaluate bicycle road effects, the data was divided into three time periods, before and after the bicycle roads were introduced in 2008 and 2011. The negative binomial count model is used to identify the significant explanatory variables on bicycle accident occurrences at intersections. From the estimated results, wider intersections, intersections with a stop sign on all arms, and intersections that have pedestrian signals on some of the arms have a high risk of bicycle accident occurrences. Comparatively, intersections with pedestrian signals at each of the arms and intersections with stop signs on some arms with traffic signals on the other arms display to have less bicycle accident occurrences. Concerning bicycle road effects, the nearest intersections from the Fushimi street bicycle road, have significantly less bicycle accident occurrences, whereas those nearest from the Sakura street bicycle road have higher occurrences. Finally, an intersection design that contributes to the prevention of bicycle accidents was proposed.
