Historically there has been little in-depth investigation into the contributory factors in single "bicycle-only" crashes. Investigators have usually assumed that (in most cases) the child has panicked and fallen from the bicycle. The death of a young girl in Brisbane in 1994 caused a public interest in the stability of her bicycle. Both the State Office of Consumer Affairs and the Queensland Police Accident Investigation Squad pursued the matter and also enlisted the assistance of the School of Civil Engineering at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Studies carried out found that many of the bicycles currently ridden by young children possessed the tendency to become unstable when subjected to lateral "knocking", even at speeds as low as 30 km/h. It was concluded that bicycle instability may be an unidentified factor in crashes and that all bicycles involved in single bicycle-only crashes should be evaluated for stability. (A) For the covering entry of this conference, please see IRRD abstract No. E200025.
Samenvatting