Skip to main content

Personal and Trip Characteristics Associated With Safety Equipment Use by Injured Adult Bicyclists: A Cross-Sectional Study

Resource type
Date created
2012
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of this study was to estimate use of helmets, lights, and visible clothing among cyclists and to examine trip and personal characteristics associated with their use.MethodsUsing data from a study of transportation infrastructure and injuries to 690 adult cyclists in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, we examined the proportion who used bike lights, conspicuous clothing on the torso, and helmets on their injury trip. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine associations between personal and trip characteristics and each type of safety equipment.ResultsBike lights were the least frequently used (20% of all trips) although they were used on 77% of trips at night. Conspicuous clothing (white, yellow, orange, red) was worn on 33% of trips. Helmets were used on 69% of trips, 76% in Vancouver where adult helmet use is required by law and 59% in Toronto where it is not. Factors positively associated with bike light use included night, dawn and dusk trips, poor weather conditions, weekday trips, male sex, and helmet use. Factors positively associated with conspicuous clothing use included good weather conditions, older age, and more frequent cycling. Factors positively associated with helmet use included bike light use, longer trip distances, hybrid bike type, not using alcohol in the 6 hours prior to the trip, female sex, older age, higher income, and higher education.ConclusionsIn two of Canada’s largest cities, helmets were the most widely used safety equipment. Measures to increase use of visibility aids on both daytime and night-time cycling trips may help prevent crashes.
Document
Published as
BMC Public Health 2012, 12:765 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-765
Publication title
BMC Public Health
Document title
Personal and Trip Characteristics Associated With Safety Equipment Use by Injured Adult Bicyclists: A Cross-Sectional Study
Date
2012
Volume
12
Issue
765
Publisher DOI
10.1186/1471-2458-12-765
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Permissions
You are free to copy, distribute and transmit this work under the following conditions: You must give attribution to the work (but not in any way that suggests that the author endorses you or your use of the work); You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
Scholarly level
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Language
English
Member of collection
Download file Size
1471-2458-12-765.pdf 215.64 KB

Views & downloads - as of June 2023

Views: 0
Downloads: 0