Cycling in the dark: how dangerous is it? Analysis of bicycle crashes n relation with light conditions. There has been no previous research in the Netherlands into how dangerous it is for cyclists to ride their bikes in the twilight and by night. This is one of the reasons why it cannot yet be determined how much bicycle lighting generally contributes to road safety, in other words, how many casualties it saves among cyclists. Partly in answer to a question that was asked by the Dutch sector organization RAI Association, SWOV has investigated the risks of cycling in several light conditions. This was done by making use of the data files on crashes, casualties and mobility that are available to SWOV, supplemented with the data for each day about sunrise and sunset. Dividing the number of casualties by the distance travelled by bicycle (in millions of kilometres) gives the casualty rate for each light condition: the higher the rate, the more casualties per kilometre travelled. When the rate is higher in certain light conditions, it may be the case that it is more dangerous to cycle in those light conditions. A different explanation, however, may be that those specific light conditions are always used by a category of cyclists who always have a higher casualty rate, irrespective of light conditions. The casualty rates have therefore been calculated for specific categories of cyclists, for specific age groups in particular. The casualty rates for the days of the week and the four seasons have also been determined.
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