Resumen
Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs) provide a convenient mode for a large portion of population in many cities. At the same time PTWs present serious system problems, the most important being poorer safety if compared to other motorized modes. But even when lower safety levels are acknowledged, problems behind are far from being solved. Rome is an example: although PTWs accidents rates are not negligible, the need for a specific safety policy is still unmet. Therefore the local Mobility Agency appointed the authors of this paper for a study of PTWs accidents occurring in the urban area. An assessment of the associated health care costs was also required. The objective of the paper is to report the main outcomes of this study highlighting recurring features of PTWs accidents, the high health care costs and how to quantify the economic resources to improve safety. The methodology was based on three steps: i) an analysis of the causes of PTWs accidents, which resulted into the location of black spots and assessment of the severity of the events; ii) the estimation of health care costs after a scientific literature review; iii) the association of health care costs to black spots and accidents severity to rank interventions to improve PTWs safety. This led to a final list of roads where PTWs accidents of the highest severity occurred and the required economic resources to improve their safety level. This stressed, for the first time, the unaffordable expenditures due to PTWs accidents. In conclusion, the issue whether the awareness of such costs can be used as leverage for more mindful behaviors among the riders is addressed.