According to German federal statistics, 67 moped riders died, 3,443 were seriously injured and 14,043 suffered minor injuries in 2010. There are around two million of these vehicles in Germany. The fatality rate is 20.6 per billion vehicle kilometers. By comparison, the fatality rate for cars is 3.5 per billion vehicle kilometers, which is lower by a factor of around six. In a research project investigating accidents involving lightweight two-wheel motor vehicles, an interdisciplinary team of researchers consisting of accident analysts and physicians recorded and analyzed 203 accidents in which at least one person was injured or killed that took place in the federal state of Saarland in the period from July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011. In addition, traffic checks were carried out on 129 vehicles together with the Saarland police. The interdisciplinary work of the physicians and technical researchers involved analyzing, in particular, the possible course of each accident, the cause of the accident, the injuries of the people involved and the corresponding causes of those injuries. The traffic checks focused, in particular, on technical changes and technical shortcomings of the vehicle as well as on rider-related aspects. (Author/publisher)
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