Analysis of fatal factors influencing accidents involving two-wheel electric vehicle drivers at intersections

Abstract With the development of society, the convenience offered by two-wheel electric vehicles has made them an ideal road-transportation option for daily short-distance travel. However, this also poses various road-safety concerns. This study aims to analyse the main factors causing fatal injuries at intersections for two-wheel electric vehicle drivers. This study uses 902 sets of data on two-wheel electric vehicle accidents that occurred in Shandong Province between 2014 and 2018 (obtained from the Shandong Tianhong Judicial Expertise Center database) to comprehensively analyse the nine factors that result in driver fatalities at road intersections. A dimensionality reduction of the factors via principal component analysis returned four main factors, namely the collision object, collision-object speed, running direction, and sight obstacles. A subsequent analysis of the main factors revealed that the most common collision object for two-wheel electric vehicle drivers is the automobile, with the most common speed during the collision being 50–60 km/h. Sight obstacles primarily include other vehicles as well as glaring lights. Two-wheel electric vehicles are most prone to accidents when turning left. This study comprehensively analyses the main factors that cause fatal injuries to two-wheel electric vehicle drivers at road intersections. Further investigations can be conducted to analyse the impact of the specific conditions of the two-wheel electric vehicle collisions on the mortality of drivers.