Institute of Transportation, MOTC

       Elderly motorcyclists who fail to yield as required by regulations cause severe accidents, and currently, most of Taiwan's traffic improvement strategies are based on accident data from the National Police Agency. This only allows for understanding that the root cause of severe accidents is the failure to yield as required by regulations, but not the specific circumstances of accidents caused by this failure. Therefore, this study used accident data from the Highway Reconstruction Council of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and utilized accident videos and on-site accident scene maps to understand the specific circumstances of accidents caused by elderly motorcyclists who fail to yield as required by regulations. Additionally, the study conducted field investigations to understand issues with signalized intersections' left-turn facilities and held focus group discussions to explore the behavior of elderly motorcyclists when turning left at signalized intersections. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the above results, the study identified the key areas that need improvement in traffic safety, proposed strategies for improving traffic engineering and traffic safety education, and evaluated the effectiveness of these strategies. The study found that regardless of whether it is a two-stage left-turn intersection or a direct left-turn intersection, the most common type of accidents caused by elderly motorcyclists failing to yield as required by regulations was directly turning left from the outer lane. The study also found that the reasons for elderly motorcyclists' failure to yield in the outer lane were due to a lack of understanding of relevant signage, markings, and signals, as well as relevant traffic regulations and certain engineering facility placement issues. Teaching elderly motorcyclists correct driving behaviors through lesson plans can be helpful in addressing these issues