Users of two-wheeled vehicles (cyclists, moped and motorcycle riders) are, along with pedestrians, the most vulnerable category of road users in an injury accident. In France, contrary to pedestrians, they have not derived any great benefit from recent safety improvements. Over the past ten years, the use of two-wheelers in France has greatly declined. The population groups representing the highest risk differ according to the category of two-wheeler concerned: children and elderly people for bicycles, teenagers for mopeds, and young adults (males) for motorcycles. The accident characteristics are also category-related, but most of the two-wheeler accidents involve a car. The greatest proportion of two-wheeler greatest proportion of two-wheeler accidents originates in a manoeuvre undertaken by a car driver. Improving two-wheeler visibility is a major priority. But this also means that two-wheeler safety is largely subject to the skill and vigilance of car drivers. Technical solutions for improving the visibility of two-wheelers in traffic for car drivers are nevertheless not easy to find and are in themselves insufficient. Car drivers, the automobile industry and road authorities must not consider road safety only from the car occupants' point of view. (A)
Samenvatting