The safety of cyclists has raised attention. Mandatory cyclist safety helmet use and passive measures to better protect cyclists in the event of a collision with passenger cars are under discussion. The number of fatal cyclists decreased however in Europe within the last 20 years by a considerable amount. On the other hand it is striking that the number of seriously injured cyclists did not decrease in a similar way. Even worse the number is increasing in the last dec-ade. Looking at the age distribution of seriously and fatally injured cyclists elderly cyclists are in particular at risk. In Germany it is already the age group aged 35 to 45 years which show a con-stant increase in cyclist casualties during the last decade. Taking into account the demographic development and the introduction of e-bikes this might be an alarm signal. (Author/publisher)
Abstract