Bicycles’ Role in Road Accidents a Review of Literature

Levulytė, Loreta; Baranyai, Dávid; Török, Ádám; Sokolovskij, Edgar · 2016 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1515/ttj-2016-0011

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This literature review examines the role of cyclists in road accidents, motivated by the persistent safety challenges facing vulnerable road users despite cycling’s health and environmental benefits. Although cyclist fatalities in the European Union decreased by 9% between 2010 and 2013, this reduction lagged behind the 18% decrease in total traffic fatalities. The authors aim to identify factors influencing cyclist-vehicle collisions, including transport infrastructure, vehicle parameters, cyclist behavior, and road categories, to inform technical and policy interventions for improved safety. The study synthesizes findings from English-language, peer-reviewed literature and statistical data from EU countries, particularly the CARE Database. The review analyzes demographic trends, temporal distributions, and crash scenarios. Methodological approaches in the cited literature include accident reconstruction, video observations of cyclist behavior, questionnaires administered to injured cyclists, and controlled experiments assessing visual contrast sensitivity. The authors emphasize the importance of exposure data, noting that many existing studies lack comprehensive metrics for cycling volume, which complicates safety comparisons across age groups and infrastructure types. Key findings reveal that 78% of cyclist fatalities involve males, with significant variations in female fatality proportions across countries (e.g., >30% in Belgium and the Netherlands). Age distribution shows peaks among adolescents (12–17 years) and older adults (60+ years), who constitute 50% of fatalities. Temporally, 28% of fatalities occur between 16:00 and 20:00, with nearly one-third happening during poor lighting conditions. Spatially, 55% of fatalities occur in urban areas, with junctions being critical hotspots; in the Netherlands and Germany, 63% and 51% of cyclist fatalities, respectively, occurred at junctions, predominantly at crossroads. Common crash scenarios include vehicles turning right across a cyclist’s path, left turns into side streets, and side-swipe collisions. The review also highlights that higher vehicle speeds exponentially increase crash rates and injury severity due to increased energy transfer. The authors conclude that while absolute fatal crash numbers are declining, the actual fatal crash rate is decreasing even more significantly as cycling participation rises. However, research on bicycle safety remains in its infancy, particularly regarding exposure data and minor accidents. The visual design of infrastructure plays a crucial role in crashes, especially for older cyclists or those with less experience who are prone to losing control at low speeds. The paper calls for future research to focus on children and adolescents, who are underrepresented in current literature, and to investigate specific crash types related to visual aspects to develop targeted preventive policies and countermeasures.

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Topics

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• cyclist safety
• vru crash typology

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes