One of the significant health concerns associated with bicycling is roadway crashes; the number of crashes involving bicyclists has been increasing in recent years. As a result of the increased movement of bicyclists and safety concerns, states and cities have been implementing countermeasures such as installing an increasing number of on-street bikeway facilities to accommodate the bicyclists. However, there is a lack of guidance about understanding the contextual factors that affect bicyclist safety. There is a need to identify the list of contextual factors affecting bicyclist safety and mobility to ensure that the most effective actions are taken to create a safer cycling environment. The objective of this paper is to identify the list of contextual elements affecting bicyclist safety. We used a narrative review approach to identify and review the relevant literature to identify the contextual factors that affect bicyclist safety. We established search terms (i.e., keywords) and criteria for identifying the relevant literature based on the PRISMA approach. As a result, 52 out of 693 studies were included in the review. The results indicate that the following groups or categories of contextual factors affect the bicyclist safety: built environment and infrastructure, bicyclist exposure, demographic and socioeconomic factors, behavioral factors, and temporal factors. Each category includes a number of factors that can affect both bicyclist crash frequency and severity. We conclude this study with the overview of the paper, main findings and future concerns (i.e., research opportunities). (Author/publisher)
Abstract