Difference in the behavior of right-turning vehicles and their effect on safety at unsignalized intersections in Malaysia

Abstract

Intersections are more prone to accidents as compared to straight road segments and vehicles that make right-turning maneuver are the ones which are more likely to be involved in an angle collision. Therefore, this study investigates their behavior at unsignalized intersections in Malaysia. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the compliance with the stop rule, use of turning indicator and right-turning behavior of minor road vehicles. All the behavioral observations were made with respect to two vehicle types which were ‘motorcycles’ and ‘others’. Descriptive analysis was presented and χ2-test was performed to investigate the association between the variables. It was found that most motorcyclists in Malaysia do not abide by the stopping rule at the intersection before making a right-turn. Moreover they seldom use their turning indicators and tend to make the indigenous ‘Weaving Merging Right-Turn’ (WMRT) more often as compared to other vehicles. Not complying with the stopping rule and keeping the indicator switched off while making a right-turn was found to be hazardous and resulted in the decrease in the safety of intersection and increase in the risk of accident. However, WMRT was found to be a safer maneuver as compared to the conventional right-turn. For vehicles other than motorcycles, the analysis concluded the same results. It is recommended that the methodology proposed in this research should be extended to other studies with a larger sample size.