Reframing Powered Two-Wheeler (PTW) Safety
A Positioning Paper for the WHO Global Road Safety Research Agenda Consultation
This paper proposes a conceptual reframing of PTW safety within the emerging WHO Global Road Safety Research Agenda, drawing on European research (RIDERSCAN, 2015), global industry feedback (IMMA, 2026), and field-based observations from West Africa (IRD Road Safety Projects, 2026) — to identify structural blind spots that persist across regions and stakeholders.
1. Beyond a Data Gap: An Epistemic Gap
Across Europe, industry stakeholders, and West Africa, a central convergence emerges around fundamental data deficiencies in PTW safety research.
Harmonization Failures
Lack of harmonized exposure data, weak linkage between police and hospital records, and systematic underreporting of PTW casualties.
Investigation Gaps
Limited in-depth and micro-level crash investigations prevent accurate understanding of causation and risk factors.
Analytical Blind Spot
Risk is still predominantly analyzed through vehicle instability and post-crash outcomes, rather than through exposure structures, mobility systems, and socio-economic embedding of PTW use.
This is a structural global weakness. Without accurate exposure and causation intelligence, policy prioritization, benchmarking, and evaluation remain fragile.
2. PTWs as Structurally Embedded Mobility Actors
A second convergence highlights the heterogeneity of PTW users. Travel patterns differ significantly by age, purpose, geography, and socio-economic context. Risk patterns are structurally produced by mobility systems themselves.
Recreational Riding
Leisure and recreational riding in high-income countries, with distinct risk profiles and infrastructure contexts.
Urban Commuting
High-density urban commuting systems where PTWs serve as primary mobility solutions for millions.
Livelihood-Based Systems
Motorcycle taxi systems in rapidly motorizing regions, where PTWs are economic lifelines with acute safety challenges.
A global research agenda must integrate typologies of use and differentiate between these exposure structures.
3. Safe System for PTWs: From Principle to Operational Model
The Safe System framework is widely accepted, yet its operationalization remains uneven. Three distinct research traditions highlight complementary — and insufficiently integrated — layers of PTW safety.
Three Research Perspectives
RIDERSCAN emphasizes Safety Critical Events, mental processing failures, and rider anticipation.
IMMA highlights naturalistic riding studies and human-machine interaction.
West African experience underscores training gaps and the importance of early road safety education.
SSA Must Explicitly Address
- Micro-cognitive processes and perception failures
- Formal rider training effectiveness
- Early road safety education and socialization
- Kinetic energy compatibility with heavier vehicles
- Cognitive processing limits and infrastructure forgiveness adapted to PTW dynamics
The integration of these distinct layers remains insufficiently addressed at global level.
4. Institutional Capacity and Implementation Realism
Research needs converge on vehicle-road interaction, maintenance, and forgiving road design. However, implementation capacity varies significantly across contexts.
High-Income Settings
Advanced research architectures, established enforcement systems, and mature data collection infrastructure.
Rapidly Motorizing Regions
Acute exposure growth with limited enforcement capacity, fragmented data systems, and resource-constrained institutions.
Research must therefore integrate implementation science and pilot-based, scalable evaluation models that reflect this institutional diversity.
5. Strategic Implications for the WHO Research Agenda
A forward-looking global research agenda should prioritize the following seven pillars to address structural blind spots in PTW safety:
1
Harmonized Exposure & Causation Intelligence
Standardized systems for collecting and linking exposure data across regions.
2
Macro & Micro Crash Investigations
Integration of in-depth and naturalistic investigation methodologies.
3
Typology-Based PTW Mobility Research
Context-sensitive implementation models reflecting diverse use patterns.
4
Behavioural & Cognitive Research
Linked to training systems and rider education programs.
5
Operational PTW-Specific Safe System Models
Integrated Safe System operational frameworks tailored to PTW dynamics.
6
Context-Sensitive Technological Evaluation
Assessment of technology effectiveness across diverse infrastructure contexts.
7
Cross-Continental Benchmarking & Data Governance
Shared standards enabling meaningful international comparison.
Conclusion: A Foundational Reframing
Powered two-wheelers are overrepresented in global road fatalities, yet many countries still lack the essential foundations for informed policymaking: reliable exposure data, differentiated usage typologies, pre-crash information, and linked hospital records.
Global road safety agendas often emphasize absolute mortality figures while giving insufficient attention to mobility patterns, type of use (commuting, leisure, livelihood), and the dynamics of interaction between heavy and light vehicles — all of which structurally shape risk.
The convergence between European research gaps, global industry priorities, and West African field realities reveals a structural blind spot: PTW safety continues to evolve without a sufficiently robust and context-differentiated research architecture.
As long as PTWs are framed as a marginal vehicle category rather than as structurally embedded mobility actors, their systemic impact will remain underestimated. Reframing PTW safety should form a foundational pillar of the WHO Global Road Safety Research Agenda.
About Creasol Consulting
This positioning paper was prepared by Creasol Consulting in support of the WHO Global Road Safety Research Agenda Consultation. Creasol Consulting brings together analytical expertise across European research frameworks, global industry engagement, and field-based road safety practice in West Africa.
Evidence-Based
Grounded in RIDERSCAN (2015), IMMA (2026), and IRD Road Safety Projects (2026).
Global Perspective
Bridging European, global industry, and West African road safety realities.
Policy Relevant
Designed to strengthen scientific coherence and policy relevance for WHO agenda-setting.