Sampling bias and weight factors for in-depth motorcycle crash data in Thailand

Abstract

Motorcycle crashes are documented in Thailand's national records but are underreported and lacking detail. In-depth motorcycle crash data, collected by Thailand Accident Research Center (TARC), contains a smaller number of motorcycle crashes but more detail. However, to draw conclusions at a national level, representativeness of the TARC in-depth data is currently unknown, and the correction of sampling biases may be required. In this study, the Capture-recapture method was used to examine the underreporting in the national crash data (from the government insurance company). It was found that 69% of fatal and 70% of non-fatal injuries were underreported, respectively. The in-depth crash data was found to be biased. The weighting methods post-stratification and iterative proportional fitting were applied to compensate for the bias and are shown to improve the representativeness of the in-depth motorcycle crash data. Weighted in-depth crash data appears to be suitable to draw conclusions on motorcyclist safety in Thailand.

Keywords

• In-depth crash data
• National crash data
• Underreporting
• Capture-recapture
• Post-stratification
• Iterative proportional fitting