Effect of Barrier Type on Injury Severity in Motorcycle-to-Barrier Collisions in North Carolina, Texas, and New Jersey

Motorcycle collisions with barriers have been shown to be much more severe than other vehicle collisions with barriers. The impact of barrier type on injury severity for motorcyclists has been greatly debated. There is growing concern about the risk associated with motorcycles colliding with cable barriers, although to date no definitive evidence has shown that cable barriers are indeed more harmful to motorcyclists than other barrier types. This study analyzed 951 motorcycle–barrier crashes involving 1,047 riders from 2003 to 2008 in North Carolina, Texas, and New Jersey to determine the effect of barrier type on injury severity in crashes. Barrier types were determined by using photographs of the reported crash site. There were 546 W-beam guardrail collisions, 358 concrete barrier collisions, and 47 cable barrier collisions observed. Of the people involved in W-beam collisions with known injury severity, 40.1% were fatally or severely injured. Likewise, 40.3% of people involved in cable barrier collisions with known injury severity were fatally or severely injured. The odds of severe injury in W-beam crashes to concrete barrier crashes were 1.164 (95% confidence interval: 0.889 to 1.524) for all riders involved in the barrier crashes analyzed, which was not significant at the 0.05 level. However, if the rider was helmeted, the odds of severe injury in a W-beam guardrail collision were 1.419 (95% confidence interval: 1.024 to 1.966) times as great as the odds of severe injury in concrete barrier collisions, a factor found to be significant at the 0.05 level. For both helmeted and unhelmeted riders, there was no significant difference in the odds of severe injury between the cable barrier collisions and the W-beam guardrail collisions. However, a smaller number of cable barrier collisions than W-beam guardrail collisions were included in the analysis.