Analysis of motor vehicle collisions with pedestrians lying on the road in Japan

Abstract

We examined motor vehicle–pedestrian collisions occurring between 2012 and 2016 in Japan, focusing on collisions in which pedestrians were lying on the road before the collision. The background of the collision, injury severity and outcomes for the pedestrian were investigated retrospectively using a database from the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis, Japan. The database contained 28,683 pedestrian casualties and 7,256 fatalities. Of these, 0.6％ of the casualties and 8.3％ of the fatalities involved pedestrians who were lying on the road. Collisions with pedestrians lying on the road occurred more frequently in winter and summer, and at weekends and night times, unlike other types of collisions （p ＜0.001）. The rates of fatalities and severe injuries were significantly higher for pedestrians who were lying on the road compared with those who were not （33.0％ vs. 2.3％, 30.8％ vs. 15.5％, respectively）. To reduce fatal vehicle to pedestrian collisions, it is important to identify accidents involving pedestrians lying on the road in each region. This could inform the development of safety systems for avoiding collisions with pedestrians lying on the road.