Sampling Bias and Weight Factors for In-Depth Motorcycle Crash Data in Thailand

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 percent of fatal and 70 percent 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.