Single accidents among pedestrians and cyclists, especially on days with slippery road conditions, have been considered an important problem in medical care. The aim of this project was therefore to elucidate possible differences in injury risks for pedestrians and cyclists depending on the type of surface, the quality of the surface, and slippery road conditions in the winter. Injury registration, road surface studies and exposure measurements were then required. Three hospitals with existing injury records were chosen and consequently also the urban areas where these hospitals are situated. The studies were carried out during the whole of 1994. Hospital registration comprised a description of injuries, accident sites and long term consequences. Approximately 450 injured pedestrians and cyclists per 100,000 inhabitants respectively, were injured during the year of registration. That is approximately twice as many injured as injured in motor vehicle accidents. The pedestrian flow is not influenced by season and precipitation but of cold weather and winter road condition. The cyclist flow is influenced a lot of season, precipitation and winter road condition. Pedestrians have six to eight times higher injury risks on icy or snow-covered roads than in summer, while there is only a slight increase in cyclists' injury rates. Pedestrian slipping and falling accidents are above all a problem among elderly people, while the reverse applies to cyclists, where mostly children and young people are injured. (Author/publisher)
Abstract