Chih-Wei Pai

Taipei Medical University | TMU · Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control

Background and objective Relevant research has provided valuable insights into risk factors for bicycle crashes at intersections. However, few studies have focused explicitly on three common types of bicycle crashes on road segments: overtaking, rear-end, and door crashes. This study aims to identify risk factors for overtaking, rear-end, and door...

Background Studies from Finland and Taiwan have shown that walking against traffic was beneficial for reducing pedestrian crashes and fatalities. This study examined whether such beneficial effects are consistent across various circumstances. Methods This study aimed to investigate pedestrian fatalities in walking-against or with-traffic crashes b...

This study aimed to investigate the association between drunk riding, unhelmeted riding, unlicensed riding, and running-off-road (ROR) crashes. Multiple logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) by using the National Taiwan Traffic Crash Dataset for 2011–2016. The results revealed that unhelmeted riding was associated...

Background Most studies have focused on injuries sustained by intoxicated drivers themselves, but few have examined the effect of drunk driving on injury outcomes among VRUs (vulnerable road users) in developing countries. This study aims to evaluate the effect of drunk driving on fatal injuries among VRUs (pedestrians, cyclists, or motorcyclists)....

Backover crashes cause considerable injuries especially among young children. Prior research on backover crashes has not assessed the joint effect of heavy vehicles and diminished light conditions on injuries. By analysing the United Kingdom STATS19 crash dataset from 1991 to 2020, this study focused on backover crashes involving paediatric cyclist...

University neighborhoods in Taiwan have high-volume traffic, which may increase motorcyclists’ risk of injury. However, few studies have analyzed the environmental factors affecting motorcycle crash injury severity in university neighborhoods. In this multicenter cross-sectional study, we explored the factors that increase the severity of such inju...

Although past studies have identified predictors related to child injuries with developmental disorders, national-level research in Asia is limited. The objective of this study was to explore the risk factors for child injuries with developmental disorders in Taiwan using a national-level integrated database for the period between 2004–2015 (The Ma...

Exposure to air pollutants may elevate the injury severity scores (ISSs) for road traffic injuries (RTIs). This multicenter cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the associations between air pollution, weather conditions, and RTI severity. This retrospective study was performed in Taiwan in 2018. The location of each road traffic accident (RTA...

The study results serve as a reminder for parents, children, and drivers to be alert to the danger of traffic crashes on Halloween. The aim of this study was to examine whether Halloween is associated with a higher incidence of traffic injuries and whether traffic injuries sustained on Halloween are more severe than those sustained on other days. T...

Importance Literature has suggested that trauma among pregnant women is associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, limited research has investigated the association of trauma with adverse pregnancy outcomes by using a national data set. Objective To investigate the association between traumatic injury and adverse pre...

Background: Studies have suggested that trauma centre-related risk factors, such as distance to the nearest trauma hospital, are strong predictors of fatal injuries among motorists. Few studies have used a national dataset to study the effect of trauma centre-related risk factors on fatal injuries among motorists and motorcyclists in a country whe...

Background: Research suggests that drivers tend to engage in risk-taking behaviours on public holidays. Studies that examined the association between holidays (or other special days) and fatal injuries are inconsistent. This study used UK STATS19 data to investigate the associations of nine public holidays on road crash casualties. Methods: This...

Background Alcohol-involved riders tend to engage in other risk-taking behaviours such as un-helmeted riding which could further increases injury severity. The combined effect of alcohol-involved and un-helmeted riding on fatal injuries is rarely investigated. This study investigated the interaction effect between blood alcohol concentration and he...

Background: Motorcycle full-coverage helmet use may reduce fatalities and head injuries. Methods: This retrospective cohort study extracted injury data from eight level-I trauma centres in Taiwan and performed a questionnaire survey to investigate injuries sustained by motorcyclists for the period between January 2015 and June 2017. Results: A...

Background: Motorcycle full-coverage helmet use may reduce fatalities and head injuries. Methods: This retrospective cohort study extracted injury data from eight level-I trauma centres in Taiwan and performed a questionnaire survey to investigate injuries sustained by motorcyclists for the period between January 2015 and June 2017. Results: As man...

Background: Allowing contraflow cycling on one-way streets has been reported to reduce crash risks in Belgium and the United Kingdom. Similarly, walking against traffic on roadways without sidewalks substantially improves pedestrian safety. This study examined fatalities and head injuries sustained by pedestrians in against-traffic and with-traffi...

Background: Light motorcycles (LMCs, with cylinder capacities between 50 to 250cc) are popular for commuting in developing countries. Objectives: With increasing LMC casualties in Taiwan, we conducted a multicenter study to analyze the effects of riders’ psycho-cognitive factors on injury severity. Methods: Riders who were hospitalized upon LMC cra...

Objectives Sun glare is a serious driving hazard and increases crash risks. Relatively few studies have examined the effects of sun glare on pedestrian fatalities, given that a crash has occurred. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effect of sun glare on pedestrian fatalities. Design A population-based case–control study....

Objective In Taiwan, light motorcycles (LMCs) with cylinder capacities between 50 and 250 cc are widely used for daily commute. These vehicles are operated in a mixed traffic environment and prohibited on highways. In light of increasing motorcycle casualties, we conducted a multicentre study to analyse rider factors affecting injury severity. Met...

The first aid is an important tool to save people’s lives after traffic accidents. Drivers are the most-likely bystanders, who might help injured people at the traffic accident site. The current research aims to explore Czech learner drivers‘ knowledge and attitudes towards the first aid and to evaluate whether the first aid education increases the...

The cybersecurity of autonomous vehicles (AVs) is an important emerging area of research in traffic safety. Because human failure is the most common reason for a successful cyberattack, human-factor researchers and psychologists might improve AV cybersecurity by researching how to decrease the probability of a successful attack. We review some area...

Several emerging smartphone location-based augmented-reality (AR) games require three primary tasks: training or battling a monster, capturing a monster, and searching for a monster, which involve different levels of perceptual load. Using the AR game originated from Japan as a single case study, this study examined inattentional blindness and deaf...

Objectives: In western countries, a typical car-motorcycle crash occurs at an intersection where a car manoeuvres into the path of an oncoming motorcycle, which involves a car driver violates motorcycle's right of way (ROW). In Taiwan, however, a unique type of crash (approach-turn crash) occurs when a turning (including U-turn) motorcycle frequent...

Background Smartphone addiction has become a crucial social issue. Past studies have indicated that phone use such as talking or texting while walking constitutes a dual task that may cause pedestrians inattentional blindness and impair their awareness of surroundings. Methods This study investigated the influence of various smartphone tasks (call...

Objectives Crashes due to motorcyclists colliding with an open car door can cause devastating injuries. In Taiwan, such crashes typically occur when the motorcyclist is travelling alongside a row of parallel-parked cars, and a driver suddenly opens the door in front of or next to the motorcycle without determining whether it is safe to do so. Injur...

The driving performance of professional truck drivers was assessed though a driving simulator and correlated with Big Five personality traits, sensation seeking, and present time perspective. The variables measured were speed and lateral position in the lane. The Big Five personality traits were measured by a NEO-FFI questionnaire, sensation seekin...

The most typical and catastrophic car-motorcycle crash occurs when a car manoeuvres into the path of an approaching motorcycle at an intersection, which involves a car driver violating motorcycle’s right of way (ROW). In Taiwan, however, motorcyclists are frequently the ROW violator—they are observed to frequently infringe upon the ROW of oncoming...

The bikeshare program in Taipei City and New Taipei City, called U-bike, was launched in August 2012 and has more than 7500 bicycles operating out of 769 stations. Research has suggested that bicycle helmet use is a means of reducing morbidity and mortality among bike users. Helmets, however, are not available for rent when a U-bike is rented. The...

Since the launch of the smartphone game “Pokemon Go”, the worldwide craze has led to numerous traffic crashes and injuries resulting from falling or tripping. This paper investigates the effects of several smartphone distracting activities (gaming, talking, texting, Web surfing, and listening to music) on the street-crossing behaviours of pedestria...

Objectives Bicyclists and motorcyclists contribute substantially to the morbidity and mortality rates of road crash casualties. The objective of the study was to investigate the crash characteristics of bicyclist and motorcyclist casualties presented to hospitals in Taiwan resulting from crashes. Methods By using linked data from The National Traf...

Introduction According to official statistics in Taiwan, the main body region of injury causing bicyclist deaths is the head, and bicyclists are 2.6 times more likely to be fatally injured than motorcyclists. There is currently a national helmet law for motorcyclists but not for bicyclists. Objectives The primary aim of this study was to determine...

Pedestrians’ head-turning behaviours are crucial to navigating streets safely. This research investigates the effects of phone use on pedestrians’ street-crossing behaviours at an uncontrolled intersection where head-turning performances are important to identify a gap among the oncoming traffic. A field study using video cameras was conducted for...

The paper investigates the effects of phone use (talking, texting, and listening to music) on the street-crossing behaviours of pedestrians and their inattentional blindness in Taiwan. Recent handsets with touchscreens, as well as more advanced features including multimedia, and mobile applications (apps), exacerbate problems relating to cognitive...

This paper examines pedestrian anatomical injuries and crash characteristics in back-to-traffic and facing-traffic crashes. Pedestrian crashes involving pedestrians walking along streets (i.e. with their backs to traffic or facing traffic) have been overlooked in literature. Although this is not the most frequent type of crash, the crash consequenc...

Literature has suggested that angle/rear-end collisions would arise from the reality that motorists and motorcyclists tended to accelerate aggressively in response to the remaining seconds of green signal countdown device (GSCD). One safety concern, while GSCD has gradually been removed for safety in Taiwan, is pedestrian green signal countdown dev...

To combat gas emissions produced by idling motorcycles at red lights, Taiwan government passed an “idle-stop (IS)” bill that requires manufacturers from year 2015 to equip 10% of newly-manufactured motorcycles with a microchip enabling the idling engines to be automatically off. Along with the safety concerns over the new but controversial technolo...

In order to reduce CO2 emissions from motorised transport, the Taiwanese government implemented an idling policy for vehicles in 2012. This paper applies a contingent valuation framework based on stated preference questions to calculate a reasonable fine for idling vehicles based on drivers’ preferences in Taiwan. Drivers were surveyed at urban roa...

Literature has suggested that bicyclists' red-light violations (RLVs) tend not to cause accidents although RLV is a frequent and typical bicyclist's behaviour. High association between bicyclist RLVs and accidents were, however, revealed in Taiwan. The current research explores bicyclists' RLVs by classifying crossing behaviours into three distinct...

A triple-bounded dichotomous choice (TBDC) structure and Spike models are applied to investigate the amount of money Taiwan automobile drivers are willing to pay for five types of moving violations, including local street speeding, expressway and freeway speeding, red light running, right turn on red, and drink-driving. Face-to-face survey was cond...

Research has suggested that the most typical and catastrophic automobile-motorcycle crash takes place when an automobile manoeuvres into the path of an oncoming motorcycle at intersection, which involves a motorist infringing upon the motorcycle's right of way (ROW). In Taiwan, motorcycles, on the other hand, are the one that has been observed to v...

Recent emphasis on bicycling as an alternative to automobile transportation has underscored the need for research efforts directed at bicycle safety when sharing roadways with motorised vehicles. Much of the research attention is focused on junction accidents where motorists tend to infringe upon bicycles' right of way. Non-junction accidents where...

Evidence in literature suggested that motorists’ failure to give way to motorcycles at junctions is the main contributory factor to motorcycle–car accidents that involve gap acceptance (i.e., approach-turn and angle crashes). This paper attempts to examine how motorist’s failure to give way affects motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T...

Research suggested that motorists' right-of-way (ROW) violation in automobile-motorcycle gap-acceptance accidents at priority (i.e., stop-/yield-controlled) T-intersections has been a safety concern to motorcyclists. This study examines the characteristics of automobile-motorcycle gap-acceptance accidents that occurred at such locations. British St...

Motorcyclists tend to be more vulnerable to injuries than those using other motorised vehicles and this may act synergistically with the complexity of conflicting movements between vehicles and motorcycles to increase injury severity in a junction-type accident. A junction-type crash can be more severe to motorcyclists than a non-junction case due...

Research has suggested that motorcyclists involved in approach-turn crashes were much more injurious than any other crash-type. This paper investigates the determinants of motorcyclist injury severity resulting from such crash types that occurred at T-junctions, with emphasis on the effects of driver's failure to give way and various junction contr...

Sideswipe collisions between motorcycles and other motorised vehicles are one of the frequently occurring types of crashes at junctions in the United Kingdom and such collisions can be injurious to motorcyclists due to their vulnerability to injuries in nature. Research focusing on vehicle–bicycle sideswipe crashes has suggested that vehicles shunt...

The effects various junction control measures have on accident frequencies among vehicles have been investigated by previous studies through the use of statistical modelling techniques but such effects on motorcyclist injury severity, given that a junction-type accident has occurred, have received little attention in literature. This paper attempts...

The fact that motorcycle users tend to be more vulnerable to injuries than those using other motorized vehicles may act synergistically with the complexity of conflicting movements between vehicles and motorcycles to increase injury severity in a junction-type accident. A junction-type collision tends to be more severe than a non-junction case due...