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Noor Faradila Paiman

Mohd Hafzi Md Isa

Zulhaidi MohdJawi

Aqbal Hafeez Ariffin

Mohd Syazwan Solah

Mohd Khairudin Rahman

Azhar Hamzah

Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim

Safety Helmet Use Rate and Child Pillion Riders’ Characteristics in Selangor


Designed by: MIROS

MRR No. 121


Noor Faradila PaimanMohd Hafzi Md IsaZulhaidi Mohd JawiAqbal Hafeez AriffinMohd Syazwan SolahMohd Khairudin RahmanAzhar Hamzah Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim

MIROS © 2013. All rights reserved.

Published by:

Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS)Lot 125-135, Jalan TKS 1, Taman Kajang Sentral,43000 Kajang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

DISCLAIMERNone of the materials provided in this report may be used, reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including recording or the use of any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from MIROS. Any conclusion and opinions in this report may be subject to reevaluation in the event of any forthcoming additional information or investigations.

Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Safety helmet use rate and child pillion riders’ characteristic in Selangor /Noor Faradila Paiman ... [et al.](Research report ; MRR No. 121)Bibliography: p. 24ISBN 978-967-5967-30-61. Helmets--Standards--Malaysia. 2. Children’s accidents--Prevention.3. Traffic safety and children. I. Noor Faradila Paiman. II. Series.687.43218

Printed by : Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research

Font type : Myriad Pro LightSize : 11 pt / 15 pt

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Contents

Page

List of Tables ivList of Figures vTerminologies and Abbreviations viContributors viiAcknowledgement ixAbstract xi

1.0 Introduction 1

2.0 Literature Review 52.1 Child Injury Scenario in Member States of South East Asia (SEA) Region 52.2 Differences in Injury Patterns between Children and Adults 62.3 Anthropometric and Biomechanical Differences between Children and Adults 72.4 Safety Precautions for Child Pillion Riders 9

3.0 Methodology 103.1 Sample and Site Selection 103.2 Defining Variables 113.3 Data Analysis 13

4.0 Result and Discussion 144.1 Sample Characteristics 144.2 Characteristics of Motorcycle Riders 144.3 Characteristics of Child Pillion Riders 164.4 Prevalence of Helmet Use: Riders vs Child Pillion Riders 184.5 Single and Multiple Child Pillion Riders in Relation to Site Location and Rider’s Gender 19

5.0 Conclusion/Recommendation 21

References 23

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List of Tables

Page

Table 1 Comparison of motorcycle rider regulations 2

Table 2 Distribution of child (<14 years old) deaths by cause in SEA region 5

Table 3 Mortality rates due to major causes of injury per 100,000 children by sex in the SEA Region 6

Table 4 Demographics of the motorcycle rider being observed 15

Table 5 Demographics of the child motorcycle child pillion rider being observed 17

Table 6 Single and multiple child pillion riders 18

Table 7 Demographics relationship between rider and pillion rider for safety helmet use compliance 20Table 8 Single and multiple child pillion riders by location of school and gender of rider 21

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List of Figures

Page

Figure 1 Multiple child pillion riders 3

Figure 2 Sitting position’s definition 13

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Terminologies and Abbreviations

Adult Other than a child.

Child Definition of child as used by the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child, Article 1 which states that “a child means every human being below the age of 18 years” (United Nations 1989). However, in this research, the child is defined as a person of age 15 years old and below; according to Malaysian laws, the minimum age to apply for a motorcycle driving license is 16 years old.

CHOP Conference Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Annual Conference.

Day time The time between sunrise and sunset (7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.).

Pillion rider A person who sits on passenger seat of a motorcycle.

Rider A person who is riding a motorcycle.

Side car Vehicle with three wheels asymmetrically arranged in relation to longitudinal median plane with engine CC > 50 cm3 and max design speed > 50 km/h.

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to express their sincerest appreciation to the Director-General of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), and the Director of Vehicle Safety and Biomechanics Research Centre, for providing the grant in conducting this project, VS102020 and extending their full support in producing this report. Our deepest gratitude goes to all the stakeholders involved, partners, reviewers, relevant agencies/companies, research participants, our editor, Mr Tan Choon Yeap, Akmalia Shabadin and Rohayu Sarani from Statistical Consultation Clinic who have worked hard, contributed their invaluable ideas, inputs, energy and time towards the production of this report. The authors would also like to express special thanks to the team members and research assistants for their help and contribution in completing the project. They are Muhammad Ridzuan Md Abd Basah, Fazli Yusof, Wan Amin Ridzuan Wan Draman and Hisham Ali.

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Abstract

Cross-sectional observation surveys among 6 to 12 years old child pillion riders were carried out at 17 different speed-restricted school safety zones. The objectives of the survey are to study the current safety helmet use compliance rate among motorcycle rider in relation to child pillion rider; to study the prevalence of safety helmet use among children pillion rider and number of child pillion riders carried per motorcycle in relation to their sitting position; and to determine the relationship between child pillion riders’ physical sizes and their legs positioning. A total of 712 riders and 915 school children were captured in videos representing 10% of the whole selected schools’ populations travelling to and fro from schools by motorcycle. Safety helmet use rate among motorcycle riders was 66.8% while for child pillion riders was 14.7%. The riders were 11.7 times as likely to use safety helmet as compared to child pillion riders. Safety helmet use rates among male (75.5%) and female riders (52.5%) had statistical significant difference where male riders were 2.7 times more prone to use safety helmet (χ2 = 35.98, p<0.001).

Safety helmet use rates of 16.3% and 13.2% were also observed for male and female child pillion riders respectively. The difference observed was not statistically significant (p=0.191). It was observed that 65.8% of female riders and 59% of male riders were carrying more than one child pillion rider. While 70.8% was found to carry only one child pillion rider, 26.1% had two child pillion riders and 2.8% carried more than three child pillion riders on a motorcycle. Safety helmet use by motorcyclists on the route to school is generally low. To increase its prevalence, there is a need for public awareness campaigns on the safety benefits of safety helmets use. Furthermore, issues such as ergonomic and the motorcycle design should be given due priority. There are quite a number of children riding motorcycle but has no flat surface

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to safely rest their foot for support. Thus, the motorcycle design engineers need to cater for the requirements by considering the difference in sizes between an adult and child pillion riders for example, to equip motorcycle with more “flexible” gadget such as a suitable foot peg.

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1.0 Introduction

Carrying child pillion riders on motorcycles has become a norm in this country. Usually parents or guardians bring their children to school, for leisure or even for long trip journey. In Malaysia, motorcycle fatal crashes (60%) warrant a high degree of concern. This is increasing the exposure to the risk of road crashes and may increase casualty. The available statistical data relating to the road crash involving motorcyclist from 2005–2007 in Malaysia shows that there were 25% of children below 16 years old pillion riders involved in road crashes (MROADS 2011). In 2008, according to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS 2011), road crashes in Malaysia have killed 410 lives of children aged between one and 15 years old and another 2,797 children suffered serious and light injuries.

Child motorcyclists are the highest children victims involved in road crash in this country. This is due to the potential vulnerability of child pillion riders and the possibility of injuries caused by road crashes. In Malaysia, in 1999 alone, general insurers paid RM 1.67 billion or an average of RM 4.6 million a day on motorcycle claims due to road crashes (Kareem 2003). It is now recognised that road traffic crashes represent a major public health problem due to the high number of victims involved and the seriousness of the consequences for themselves and their families.

There are several questions arise regarding the issue of child motorcycle pillion riders. For instance,

• How many children aged less than 16 years regularly travelled as motorcycle pillion riders?

• What is the appropriate age limit for a child to ride as a pillion rider on a motorcycle?

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• Is there any existing legislation that limits the number of pillion riders carried on a motorcycle?

• What regulations relate to the safety of motorcycle pillion riders?, and

• What plans are available to improve the safety of motorcycle pillion riders?

In answering those questions, Azhar et al. (2009) had done a comprehensive review of regulations and policies on motorcycle rules which revealed that very few countries specified the minimum age of a child riding as a pillion rider on a motorcycle. Additionally, the definition of child physical requirements to ride as pillion rider is also rarely available. As shown in Table 1, motorcycle pillion rider’s age limitation is not commonly set in the regulations.

Country No. of pillion riders Pillion riders’ age limit Safety helmet use requirement

Malaysia Only 1 pillion rider allowed No requirement Yes

Vietnam No requirement No requirement Yes

US, 4 states No requirement Varies from >5 to >8 years Yes

UK Only 1 pillion rider allowed Sit astride and should keep both feet on the foot pegs Yes

Australia No requirement ≥8 years, unless in a side car Yes

Furthermore, children’s size safety helmets are readily available in Malaysia. However, the minimum size available is 57 cm in diameter which may not satisfactorily suitable for the size of the head of children who are younger than seven years old. Recent survey conducted by MIROS researchers on the Standard Child Helmet Compliance found that there are few other prominent issues requiring immediate attention (Azhar et al. 2009). Firstly, there is an obvious practice of multiple child pillion riders riding

Table 1 Comparison of motorcycle rider regulations (Azhar et al. 2009)

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on a motorcycle, as reflected in Figure 1. Secondly, there are cases where the physical size of children may not be suitable to ride as pillion riders because their legs could not reach the foot peg or their arms reach are too short to firmly hold onto the rider in front to have the needed support. Another concern would be the habit of carrying pillion riders in front of the rider which has a tendency to distract the motorcyclist. However, scientifically, there is very little evidence to support these hypotheses and the area could be understudied.

Figure 1 Multiple child pillion riders

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Thus, the objectives of this study are as follow:

• to study the current safety helmet use compliance rate among motorcycle rider in relation to child pillion rider;

• to study the prevalence of safety helmet use among child pillion rider and number of child pillion rider carried on a motorcycle in relation to their sitting position; and

• to determine the relationship between the child pillion riders’ physical sizes and their legs positioning.

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2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Child Injury Scenario in Member States of South East Asia (SEA) Region

Children and older people (60 years and above) are often considered as vulnerable road users (Kareem 2003). Data collected around SEA region revealed that road traffic injuries were the second highest reason of children death (Table 2). In addition, WHO (2008) reported that road traffic injuries are the highest cause of child mortality rate whereby boys recorded 9.6 while girls 5.1 injury per 100,000 children death (Table 3). These findings are parallel with other studies which supported that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of mortality and severity among children worldwide and the burden mostly affects low and middle income countries (Jaung et al. 2009; Krug et al. 2000; Nantulya and Reich 2003).

Table 2 Distribution of child (<14 years old) deaths by cause in SEA region

Causes Percentage

Other unintentional injuries 53%

Intentional self-harm 2%

Interpersonal violence 3%

Other intentional injuries 1%

Road traffic injuries 12%

Poisoning 3%

Falls 5%

Burns 9%

Drowning 12%Source: The Global Burden of Disease (2004 update)

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Generally, it is known that motorcyclist is of a high risk group and susceptible to high velocity injury and multiple traumas. They are relatively more exposed to road hazards, therefore are more prone to injury than those travelling in any other mode of transportation which has protection “shell” such as cars and buses. Children, as vulnerable as they are, are at greater risk of sustaining significant severe injuries when involved in motorcycle crashes.

Table 3 Mortality rates due to major causes of injury per 100,000 children by sex in the SEA Region

Types of injury Boys Girls TotalRoad traffic injuries 9.6 5.1 7.4

Drowning 7.1 5.2 6.2

Burns 3.3 9.1 6.1

Falls 3.0 2.4 2.7

Source: World report on child injury prevention, Geneva, WHO (2008)

2.2 Differences in Injury Patterns between Children and Adults

Head injuries are very common in children and are the leading cause of disability and death. At least 80% of children died with multiple traumas have significant head injuries as compared with 50% of adults (Walker et al. 1985). Head injuries are more common in children due to several factors:

• the head-body ratio is much greater;

• the brain of the child, especially in early childhood, which is less myelinated and hence is easier to be injured; and

• the cranial bones are thinner and offer less protection to the brain.

In piglets, age has an effect on the response and recovery of the brain to focal impact and rotational load (Abrogast et al. 2003). If human follows the same principles and patterns, then it may be possible that brain damage increases with age when subjected to external loads. In other words, when significantly loaded, the

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brains of children can adapt and recover better from injury than the brains of adults. However, studies show that children’s skulls are only 1/8 as strong as that of adults (Near Infrared Imaging 2011). Thus, children are much more vulnerable to injury through deformation and fracture of the skull, which can injure the brain. If this hypothesis is acceptable, then children’s safety helmet needs to be designed differently in order to be more effective in reducing brain injury.

For the cervical spine injuries, it is rare in children under 12 years old because of their greater mobility and elasticity of the cervical spine (Henrys et al. 1977). Children bend their necks at higher vertebral levels than adults, and their vertebral joints are flatter so they don’t restrict forward motion as much as in adults. In another study, it is reported that spine injuries stand out as the most severe in paediatric cervical spine (Abrogast et al. 2003). Since cervical spine injuries may be related to the impact to the heads, then this issue is relevant to safety helmet design standards.

2.3 Anthropometric and Biomechanical Differences between Children and Adults

Children and adults have plenty of differences in term of anthropometry and body build up. The most prevalent would be the size, shape and biomechanics. From University of Michigan - Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), data presented in CHOP Conference (2003), Klinich pointed out that a child’s head size undergoes rapid development from born till the age of four years old. The size reaches 90% of an adult’s at four years old and 95% by the age of 12 (Abrogast et al. 2003). This finding is a relevant input for the design of children safety helmet.

Additionally, the data also shows that at the same age of four and 12 years old, the neck size for children is respectively 75% and 85% of the adults’ size and tend to be weaker with regards to muscle strength but has a higher level of stretch ability (Abrogast et al. 2003). These characteristics create a less respective forward

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motion for children’s neck relative to that of adults’ and give more flexibility for the neck to bend. These attributes are some of the potential factors to be considered when determining safety helmet mass.

Consequently, adult sized safety helmets can obscure children’s vision and would not fit properly on their heads. For a child, the adult sized motorcycle’s safety helmet may actually rest on the shoulder and the head may not fit snugly into the safety helmet. Even the chinstrap will not secure the safety helmet properly as chinstrap anchor points are placed to fit adult’s anatomy. They are likely to be too low and too far forward for children’s head and it will be loose on their head; worst of all, it may come off in a crash.

Children’s injury limit need to be assessed seperately and not using adults’ injury levels. Children’s injury limits are more complicated because they need to be assessed as a function of age. The age consideration is very important because children’s anthropometric and biomechanical limits are different at every stage of age. To the best of the authors’ knowledge there was no study done with regard to relationship between children age and body size with the suitability of riding as pillion rider on a motorcycle. However, there was a study done on children bicycle with regards to their body sizes. Thus the suitability of children riding pillion on a motorcycle is not known. For bicycle, handle bar would affect the spinal posture as well as the load imposed on the back or neck area and therefore may result in discomfort in these areas (Laios and Giannatsis 2010). Due to wide variance in anthropometric dimensions between children and adult and also among the children themselves, the suitability of children riding as pillion rider on motorcycle need to be reviewed.

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2.4 Safety Precautions for Child Pillion Riders

According to YouClaim, an insurance company from the United Kingdom (U.K.), most general safety precautions for child pillion riders are clearly prescribed in the laws. The followings are some of the general safety precautions:

• there must be an actual pillion seat;

• the foot pegs must be easily reached by the child’s feet;

• the child must be able to grip the rider, the bar or the pillion hand-holds easily;

• an appropriate, well-fitting safety helmet must be worn by the child; and

• a full license, i.e. not a provisional license, must be held by the rider.

In addition to this, other safety precautions which are strongly advisable by YouClaim to prevent the child from injury suffering in a motorcycle crash include:

• the child should wear a full and proper protective clothing;

• a high visibility clothing should be worn by both adult rider and child pillion rider;

• the journeys are kept short and that stops and breaks are made regularly;

• the child is mature and responsible enough to understand the behaviour required while riding pillion rider; and

• the rider fully appreciate the impact on performance and handling of a child pillion rider.

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3.0 Methodology

3.1 Sample and Site Selection

This study was conducted between June and November 2010 and covered all nine districts in Selangor state. Data collection in every district was carried out by an assigned team member. The study’s subjects from every district were selected by the Multistage Sampling Method with the following criteria.

i) Three primary schools in a rural setting were selected comprising one National Primary School (SR Kebangsaan), one National Type Chinese Primary School (SRJK Cina) and one National Type Tamil Primary School (SRJK Tamil).

ii) Three primary schools in an urban setting were also selected comprising one SR Kebangsaan, one SRJK Cina and one SRJK Tamil.

A total of 17 primary schools were selected randomly according to rural and urban area setting which was based on the school’s classification by the Ministry of Education. Schools with the highest number of students were nominated for data collection according to cluster under each stratified areas. This is due to the higher possibility of meeting relevant respondents. All primary schools’ students comprising standard 1 to 6 (age from 7 to 12 years old), either going to school or coming back from school by motorcycle were captured as the sample for this study.

This study, based on observation survey was conducted to determine the characteristics of child pillion riders in the state of Selangor. All observation sites were established at a non-curved road segment along the main road of primary school main entrance. At each site, two trained observers, including researchers,

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observed and recorded all the passing-by motorcycles which carry child pillion rider/riders. Then, the observers would fill out and complete the observation form and subsequently record the following variables for analysis:

• number of riders;

• goods carried;

• gender of riders (male or female);

• age of riders (adult or child); and

• use of safety helmet.

The above observation does not include riders who were not seated on their own (namely; babies or infants). The Observation form used was adapted from MUARC study (Clark 2009) to suit our local environment. These observations were conducted between 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. during the weekdays (Monday to Thursday). Traffic from both directions was observed for each site within the period of time set. Additional day will be allocated if the required numbers of observations were not obtained.

3.2 Defining Variables

The following variables were observed for both the rider and the child pillion rider during data harvesting from the captured videos.

i) Estimated age of child pillion rider.

ii) Gender of child pillion rider.

iii) Position of each child pillion rider.

iv) Compliance of safety helmet use.

v) Use of protective clothing.

vi) Use of conspicious clothing.

vii) Switch-on motorcycle headlight during day time.

viii) Number of person on motorcycle.

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It was noted that the child pillion riders’ age were hard to be determined due to the variation in body sizes. This is because this study was carried out using road observational method, not one-to-one interview. On top of that some of the recorded videos were not clear as the video resolutions were not in high definition mode. As such the researchers had lost some valuable data such as riders’ age and tightening of chinstrap.

Child pillion rider’s variables consist of the following:

i) gender of child pillion rider;

ii) safety helmet use compliance;

iii) child pillion rider’s sitting position; and

iv) child pillion rider’s leg resting position.

As shown in Figure 2, child pillion rider’s sitting position comprises:

i) front (FP);

ii) middle (MP); and

iii) back (BP).

Front (FP) is defined by the child pillion rider’s sitting in front of the rider. Middle (MP) is defined by the child pillion rider’s sitting position which is between the rider and the rear most pillion rider. The back (BP) sitting position is defined as the rearmost child pillion rider riding the motorcycle.

The leg resting position comprised three variables, namely, ‘in basket’, ‘hanging’ and ‘on foot peg’. ‘In basket’ is defined by leg resting in the basket available in front of a motorcycle. ‘Hanging’ is defined as the leg of child pillion rider who does not have any flat surface for support. This could happen to a smaller size pillion rider and also to one of the pillion riders when carrying more than one pillion rider.

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Rider and 1 Rear child pillion rider (BP) Rider and 1 Front child pillion rider (FP)

Rider and 1 FP , 1 Middle child pillion rider (MP) and 1 BP

Rider and 1 FP , 2 MP and 1 BP

3.3 Data Analysis

Recorded videos were extracted and relevant data were entered into a database using Microsoft Excel. The prevalence of safety helmet use (with 95% confidence intervals, CI) for both riders and child pillion riders were determined for subgroups based on sex, and location using simple cross-tabulations. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (SPSS Inc.). Comparisons between groups were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for continuous outcome variables, and with Chi-square tests for categorical outcome variables. P values for inclusion to and exclusion from the models were set at 0.05, and the likelihood-ratio test was used to test for significance.

Figure 2 Sitting position’s definition

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4.0 Result and Discussion

4.1 Sample Characteristics

A total of 701 motorcycle riders and 913 child pillion riders from all the 17 locations were observed. From the observation, 436 riders (62.2%) were men and 265 (37.8%) were women. A total of 913 students were captured in the videos representing 10% of the selected schools’ total populations to and fro from school by motorcycle. The number recorded in Selangor was small because most of the parents are working, thus do not send and pick up their children from schools. Thus, transportation facility offered by transport agency such as buses and vans are preferred by parents. Furthermore, most of the schools provide additional classes for students who will be taking major examinations at the end of each year. Since this observation took place only from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., the researchers have missed those students who were having additional classes. These were the reasons for the sample size to be small. Nevertheless, the number of observations is adequate for this study.

4.2 Characteristics of Motorcycle Riders

As shown in Table 4, 33.2% of the observed riders did not comply with the safety helmet use regulation. It is known that the introduction of the safety helmet law has led to a 30% reduction in motorcycle deaths (WHO 2008). However, the safety helmet use among riders is found to be low in this study. Safety helmets provide the best protection from head injury for cyclist and motorcyclists who are involved in traffic crashes. Non-compliance to safety helmet use increases the risk of head injury

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for motorcycle riders by a factor of three (3), and safety helmets use reduces fatal and serious head injuries by between 20% to 45% (WHO 2004).

Table 4 Demographics of the motorcycle riders being observed

Variables Frequency Percentage (%)Riders’ gender Male 437 62.3 Female 264 37.7Location Urban 382 54.5 Rural 319 45.5Riders safety helmet use compliance Yes 468 66.8 No 233 33.2Brightness of riders upper garments Yes 290 41.4 No 411 58.6Running headlights during the day On 390 55.6 Off 311 44.4Motorcycle plate L 7 1.0 P 25 3.6 None 669 95.4Riders footwear Shoes 159 22.7 Sandals 542 77.3

Furthermore, low motorcycle conspicuity, which is the inability of the motorcyclist to be seen by other road users, is thought to be an important factor associated with the risk of motorcycle crashes (William 1979; Wells et al. 2003).

In Table 4, it could be seen that the number of riders who wore bright upper garment (41.4%) is lower than riders wore dark shirts (58.6%). Running headlights during the day which was recorded in this study was low. This study found out that only 55.6% had turned on their motorcycles’ headlights as compared to study conducted by Radin Umar (2005) whereby nearly 90% of motorcyclists complied with the running headlights during

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the day. Day time use of headlights had been proven to enhance the conspicuousness of motorcycle riders hence it showed a significantly decreased in day time conspicuity related accidents by about 29% (Radin Umar 2005; Hardy 2011).

This study also highlighted the usage of proper footwear among motorcycle riders. It is obviously shown in Table 4 that the majority of motorcycle riders (about 77.3%) did not wear shoes while riding. This finding concurs with the previous study (Radin et al. 1996) which shows that 53% of Malaysian riders were observed to wear sandals or slippers during raining days and this can be seen in the high injuries to victims’ ankle and foot. Jeffers et al. (2004) also revealed that motorcycle crashes continue to be a source of severe injury, especially to the foot. Unsuitable or inadequate footwear such as slippers and sandals could be a hazardous practice for motorcyclist due to interference when shifting gears or in the worst case rider’s foot could be stuck at the brake lever when applying foot brake. Even though this injury has been associated with low mortality, they still require the assessment and immediate treatment to prevent death or permanent disability.

4.3 Characteristics of Child Pillion Riders

Table 5 shows the characteristics of child motorcycle pillion riders being observed. Out of the 913 child pillion riders being observed, 48.5% are male and 51.5% are female. Safety helmet use compliance is very low among child pillion riders. The number of children use safety helmet to school is only 134 (14.7%).

Of the total numbers of observed child pillion riders’ sitting location, 93% of them occupied the seat behind the rider–classified in this study as Back (BP – rearmost child pillion rider, 73.6%) and Middle (MP – any child pillion rider between rider and BP, 19.2%). There were 66 (7.2%) observed child pillion riders occupying the front “seat”.

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Table 5 Demographics of the child motorcycle pillion rider being observed

Variables Total Percentage (%)

Child pillion rider’s gender

Male 443 48.5

Female 470 51.5

Safety helmet use compliance

Yes 134 14.7

No 779 85.3

Child pillion rider’s sitting position

Front (PF) 66 7.2

Middle (PM) 175 19.2

Back (PB) 672 73.6

Child pillion rider’s leg position

In basket 52 5.7

Hanging 320 35.0

Foot peg 541 59.3

In addition, the observation for the child pillion rider’s leg position is straightforwardly related to the sitting position. Child pillion rider being seated in the front usually put their leg in the basket (the floor of the basket being the foot rest). Child pillion riders at the rear (BP) and middle (MP) were observed to have their legs hanging or resting on the foot peg. In the case of two or more child pillion riders behind the rider, it was observed that the back child pillion riders (BP) occupy the foot peg more often. Therefore, the observation for leg position follows the same pattern of sitting position with leg on the foot peg and hanging were 59.3% and 35%, respectively.

Of the observed motorcycles, 502 (71.6%) had one child pillion rider, 179 (25.5%) had two child pillion riders, and 20 (2.9%) had more than three child pillion riders as shown in Table 6. Exclusive to this research, there was one occasion of a rider carried four child pillion riders was detected, which made up the total occupants for a motorcycle to five.

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Variable Frequency Percentage (%)

Multiple child pillion rider

No 502 71.6

Yes

Two pillions riders 179 25.5

Three or more pillion riders 20 2.9

4.4 Prevalence of Safety Helmet Use: Riders vs Child Pillion Riders

Table 7 shows that the estimated total rate of safety helmet use compliance for riders and child pillion rider were 66.8% and 14.7%, respectively. The observed difference on the rate of safety helmet use among riders and child pillion rider was statistically significant (χ2 = 460; p < 0.001). Generally, riders were 11.7 times as likely to use safety helmet as compared to child pillion rider. However, the rate of helmet use compliance was low as compared to observation carried out during Ops Sikap conducted by MIROS during Chinese New Year (CNY) 2012, whereby the helmet compliance rate was reported higher than 90% (Azzuhana, In press). The low compliance rate was most probably due to the observation areas which were conducted within school vicinity. Since most of the observed schools were located near residential areas, it is assumed that the riders and the child pillion riders tend not to use helmet due to short distance travelled from their house to school, and vice versa. As a result, the compliance rate of helmet use might be affected, hence, recorded low.

In Selangor, the safety helmet use rate for riders was higher than the child pillion riders as in accordance with other studies (Ackaah and Afukaar 2010; Hung et al. 2006; Skalkidou et al. 1999). In other countries such as Ghana, there is a general perception that only riders are required to use safety helmet. Their motorcycle riders are not well informed of the safety helmet legislation. However, Malaysia differs from those countries whereby majority of the

Table 6 Single and multiple pillion riders

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population is aware of the safety helmet law but unfortunately the rate of complying is still low for pillion, in the case of this study is child pillion rider.

Safety helmet use rates among male (75.1%) and female riders (53%) were found statistically significant. Male were 2.7 times more prone to use safety helmet (χ2 = 36, p<0.001) as compared to female. Nevertheless, this finding is not aligned with the previous CNY 2012 study (Azzuhana, In press). Reason for such difference might be due to the study area which were carried out around the school vicinity. The finding suggested that travel distance plays a significant role in determining the helmet use compliance between male and female riders. Moreover, it is assumed that female riders were mostly housewives who ride motorcycle for sending and fetching their children to and from school. On the other hand, male riders mostly travelled longer distances from/to work place. As discussed in Akmalia (In press), male respondents in Sabak Bernam drove significantly more miles and trips as compared to female for their daily routine.

As shown in Table 7, safety helmet use rate of 16.3% and 13.2% were observed for male and female child pillion rider, respectively. The difference observed was not statistically significant. However, child pillion rider sitting position plays a significant role in determining the compliancy of safety helmet use. Furthermore, there was a significant difference for child pillion rider safety helmet use compliance according to sitting position. Children who sit in the middle position (PM) are less likely to use safety helmet.

Observations were also made at sites in the urban and rural areas. There was a significant difference (χ2=5.1, p=0.024) in safety helmet use between motorcycle riders within the urban (63.1%) as compared to those in rural area (71.2%). It is unexpected that the result of the safety helmet use within rural area is higher than in urban area. This result contradicts the other studies (Ackhaah and Afukaar 2010). The low compliance rate of safety helmet use in urban area was due to the study environment whereby the trips

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of the observation are dedicated to short distance trip i.e., trip to and fro from school. Studies had proven that the compliance rate of safety helmet use increases as the travel distance increases (Kulanthayan et al. 2000).

VariablesSafety helmet use

compliance Total no. Statistical significant Odd Ratio

Yes (%) No (%)Position of occupant

Rider 468 (66.8) 233 (33.2) 701 χ2 = 460, 1d.f., p<.001 11.7 (9.2-14.9)

Child pillion rider 134 (14.7) 779 (85.3) 913

Rider Male 328 (75.1) 109 (24.9) 437 χ2 = 35.98, 1d.f., p<.001 2.7 (1.9-3.7)

Female 140 (53.0) 124 (47.0) 264

Child pillion riderMale 72 (16.3) 371 (83.7) 443 χ2 = 1.71, 1d.f., p=0.191 -

Female 62 (13.2) 408 (86.8) 470

Child pillion sitting position

Front (PF) 6 (9.1) 60 (90.9) 66 χ2 = 7.25, 1d.f., p=.007 5.7 (1.4-23.6)

Back (PB) 125 (18.6) 547 (81.4) 672 χ2 = 30.87, 1d.f., p<.001 0.76 (0.02-0.24)

Middle (PM) 3 (1.7) 172 (98.3) 175Location

Urban 241 (63.1) 141 (36.9) 382 χ2 = 5.10, 1d.f., p=0.024 0.69 (0.50-0.95)

Rural 227 (71.2) 92 (28.8) 319

4.5 Single and Multiple Child Pillion Riders in Relation to Site Location and Rider’s Gender

Table 8 shows the number of riders carrying multiple pillion riders according to location (urban and rural) and gender of rider (male and female). Based on the observation, it was noted that the percentage of multiple child pillion riders was higher in rural area (31.0%) as compared to urban area (26.2%). The result, which is as expected, concurs with authors’ opinion that there is a limited transportation facility (e.g. school bus) available in the rural area as compared to urban area. However, further analysis using the Chi-square method shows that the difference was not statistically

Table 7 Demographics relationship between rider and child pillion rider for safety helmet use compliance

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significant because it exceeded the 0.05 level (χ2=2.02, p=0.156). This means that there is no significant association between presence of multiple child pillion riders and the location of school.

A similar analysis was also carried out to determine whether there is an association between multiple child pillion riders with gender of rider. Initial analysis of the data showed that the percentage of multiple child pillion riders was higher for female riders (34.1%) than male (24.9%). Nevertheless, the frequency of rider carrying multiple child pillion riders was higher for male rider than female. Analysis using Chi-square method yielded a Chi-square value of 6.78 which was significant at the 0.05 level (p=0.009). This shows that there is a significant association between multiple child pillion riders with gender of rider. The Odds Ratio (O.R.) value showed that male rider was 1.6 times more likely to carry multiple child pillion riders when compared to female rider. The outcome from the O.R. value supported the results of the total frequency distribution shown in Table 8 where the total number of male rider observed was higher than female rider.

Table 8 Single and multiple child pillion riders by location of school and gender of rider

VariablesMultiple child pillion riders

Total no. Statistical significantYes (%) No (%)

Location of school

Urban area 100 (26.2) 282 (73.8) 382 χ2 = 2.02, 1 df, p=0.156

Rural area 99 (31.0) 220 (69.0) 319

Gender of rider

Male 109 (24.9) 328 (75.1%) 437 χ2 = 6.78, 1 df, p=0.009

Female 90 (34.1) 174 (65.9) 264 Odds Ratio = 1.6 (1.114, 2.174)

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5.0 Conclusion/Recommendation

This study was aimed to capture the safety helmet use rate among rider and child pillion rider, and the relationship between child pillion riders’ characteristics and the number of child pillion riders carried at any one time.

Since the introduction of safety helmet regulation in 1971 for motorcyclist, the accumulated evidence is overwhelming that safety helmet use reduces motorcyclist fatalities, injuries, and treatment costs. The price for these benefits is that motorcyclist, including child pillion rider, should use a safety helmet and fasten it properly. The proper use of a safety helmet may seen to benefit only the motorcyclist, but in actual fact failure to use a safety helmet properly may result in injury or fatality to the motorcyclist, especially among children, which will also affect other people directly or indirectly, including the family members, other road users and also the society at large.

It is surprising that the result of this study showed that the safety helmet use rate was relatively low even though with the implementation of the safety helmet regulation. The study also showed that, about 30% of the child pillion riders carried at any one time was not complying with the existing regulation. Thus, it is recommended that the existing law related to safety helmet compliance and the number of child pillion rider carried be enforced more effectively. It is also suggested that public campaigns as well as educational programmes be conducted regularly to enhance the awareness level of safety helmet use compliance and the consequences of carrying multiple child pillion riders among motorcyclist.

Besides that, the issue such as ergonomic and the motorcycle’s design should be given due priority to allow children to be

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safely carried on a motorcycle. In fact, ergonomically, design of equipments should suit every user. But in reality, due to the variability within the population, most designs are suited to only 95% of the population. As for this study, with regards to child pillion rider, the current design of motorcycle foot peg is only suitable for those who have the adequate height. Thus, the motorcycle design engineers need to consider the difference sizes between adult and children. For example, to equip motorcycle with “flexible” foot peg. On top of that, due to wide variance in anthropometric dimensions between children and adult, it warrants a revision of the law on the suitability of children riding as pillion rider by including the age limit.

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Noor Faradila Paiman

Mohd Hafzi Md Isa

Zulhaidi MohdJawi

Aqbal Hafeez Ariffin

Mohd Syazwan Solah

Mohd Khairudin Rahman

Azhar Hamzah

Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim



Designed by: MIROS

MRR No. 121

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