Between 2010 and 2019, an annual average of 59 pedestrians and 194 cyclists died in road crashes (Source: Statistics Netherlands datalink), also see SWOV fact sheet Road deaths in the Netherlands.
This was respectively 9% and 31% of the total number of road deaths in that period. As shown in Figure 1, the number of road deaths among cyclists has hovered around this number since 2000, while the number of pedestrian road deaths has decreased.
On account of the (international) definition of a road crash (introduced by Statistics Netherlands in 1926), the figures for pedestrians and cyclists may not be compared: a crash is only a road crash when it involves a moving vehicle. When cyclists fall off their bicycles or crash into an obstacle, this is classified as a road crash. When pedestrians take a fall at the exact same location or bump into obstacles or other pedestrians[i], this is not classified as a road crash. The estimated annual number of deaths by these pedestrian falls and collisions is approximately 75 [1].
Figure 1 only includes the number of road deaths according to the official definition (so excluding deaths by pedestrian falls and collisions).
Figure 1. Number of road deaths among cyclists and pedestrians between 2000 and 2020 (Source: Statistics Netherlands datalink).
Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of the number of serious road injuries in 2018[ii] and shows that more than half the serious injuries were sustained by casualties of bicycle crashes which did not involve a motor vehicle as crash opponent. The share of cyclists is 64% and the share of pedestrians is 5% of the total number of serious road injuries. Yet, among pedestrians, the number of serious injuries after falls and collisions is about five times higher than the number of serious injuries in road crashes [1]. More information about casualties among pedestrians and cyclists can be found in SWOV fact sheet Pedestrians and the fact sheet Cyclists.
Figure 2. Distribution of the number of serious road injuries among cyclists and pedestrians by mode of transport in 2018 [2].
[i] In this fact sheet, pedestrian road crashes are defined as crashes involving a moving vehicle, unless explicitly stated that a different definition is used.
[ii] Because of a change in the method of calculating the number of serious road injuries in 2018, the time period used for road deaths cannot be applied here and, therefore, the figures are restricted to 2018.
