About one third of the road users who are admitted to hospital are cyclists, and the majority of these have been injured in a “single accident”, i.e. an accident which is not due to a collision with another road user. The objective of this project was to study in greater detail the single accidents of cyclists, to see how these can be avoided or how the injuries due to these can be alleviated. Of all the cyclists who need emergency treatment, eight out of ten had been injured in a single accident. In addition, on average five cyclists were killed every year in a single bicycle accident. In all, during the five-year period studied, 125 cyclists were killed. Of the 1,274 seriously injured in single bicycle accidents, 27 per cent can be related to operation and maintenance, 20 per cent to road design, 27 per cent to cyclist-bicycle interaction, 15 per cent to the behaviour and state of the cyclist, and 11 per cent to the interaction of the cyclist with other road users. Older age groups are involved to a greater extent than the young, in both the fatal accidents and the serious accidents – more than 40 per cent among those killed and seriously injured were 65 or older. The serious injuries among older people are characterised by injuries to the hips which may be due to the fact that at low speeds or when getting on or off the bicycle more accidents occur among older people. This shows the need for other types of cycles which are better suited for older people, with a lower instep frame, a seat position nearer the ground, etc. In other respects, head injuries dominate among the seriously injured cyclists, and according to the in-depth studies head injuries were the cause of death in 70 per cent of single bicycle accidents. For ten out of the fourteen who died of head injuries and had not worn a helmet, survival would have been possible with a helmet, according the judgment of the Swedish Transport Administration. A cycle helmet is thus a cheap life insurance, and inducements are needed to increase helmet wear among cyclists on a voluntary basis, for instance through subsidies for helmets, reduced insurance premiums and the right information. The in-depth studies of fatal accidents by the Swedish Traffic Administration, and hospital reported accidents in the database Strada have been analysed. The focus was on the single bicycle accidents resulting in death or serious injury, and the data for 2007–2011 were included. In addition, 32 seriously injured cyclists were interviewed about the accident in which they had been involved. There are ways in which reporting in Strada can be further improved, which could give us even more knowledge of single bicycle accidents. (Author/publisher)
Abstract