Risk of injury for pedal cyclists has shown no improvement in the past decade while it has fallen for all other road users. About 300 cyclists are killed on Britain's roads every year. Their rate of fatal or serious injury per mile has changed little but there has been a marked shift in risk from children, who are cycling less, to adults, who are cycling more. Though their risk per mile is great, people who cycle have only a slightly higher than average risk of injury per year compared with all travellers and a slightly lower than average risk of death. Most cycle accidents occur at junctions on minor roads in built up areas in daylight. Some junction types, particularly conventional roundabouts, appear to be particularly hazardous. Signal controlled junctions, including roundabouts, are safer for cyclists. Other EEC countries have reduced their cyclist death rate by an average of 40% over the past decade compared with Great Britain's 9% reduction. The annual cost of cycle casualties in Britain is about .360M (1989 values). Wider application of cycle schemes based on designs tested by TRRL and the Department of Transport with local highway authorities and area-wide speed reduction measures offer some hope of reducing the toll of cyclist casualties. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference, see IRRD 840727.
Abstract