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Bicycling Crash Circumstances Vary By Route Type: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Resource type
Date created
2014
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
BackgroundWidely varying crash circumstances have been reported for bicycling injuries, likely because of differing bicycling populations and environments. We used data from the Bicyclists’ Injuries and the Cycling Environment Study in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, to describe the crash circumstances of people injured while cycling for utilitarian and leisure purposes. We examined the association of crash circumstances with route type.MethodsAdult cyclists injured and treated in a hospital emergency department described their crash circumstances. These were classified into major categories (collision vs. fall, motor vehicle involved vs. not) and subcategories. The distribution of circumstances was tallied for each of 14 route types defined in an earlier analysis. Ratios of observed vs. expected were tallied for each circumstance and route type combination.ResultsOf 690 crashes, 683 could be characterized for this analysis. Most (74%) were collisions. Collisions included those with motor vehicles (34%), streetcar (tram) or train tracks (14%), other surface features (10%), infrastructure (10%), and pedestrians, cyclists, or animals (6%). The remainder of the crashes were falls (26%), many as a result of collision avoidance manoeuvres. Motor vehicles were involved directly or indirectly with 48% of crashes. Crash circumstances were distributed differently by route type, for example, collisions with motor vehicles, including “doorings”, were overrepresented on major streets with parked cars. Collisions involving streetcar tracks were overrepresented on major streets. Collisions involving infrastructure (curbs, posts, bollards, street furniture) were overrepresented on multiuse paths and bike paths.ConclusionsThese data supplement our previous analyses of relative risks by route type by indicating the types of crashes that occur on each route type. This information can guide municipal engineers and planners towards improvements that would make cycling safer.
Document
Published as
BMC Public Health 2014, 14:1205 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1205The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/14/1205
Publication title
BMC Public Health
Document title
Bicycling Crash Circumstances Vary By Route Type: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
Date
2014
Volume
14
Publisher DOI
10.1186/1471-2458-14-1205
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Scholarly level
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Language
English
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1471-2458-14-1205.pdf 385.58 KB

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