Information on 2,509 persons treated for injuries incurred while bicycling or walking was collected from eight United States hospital emergency rooms over approximately a one-year time period. The emergency rooms represented a mix of urban and suburban/rural sites in three states: California, New York, and North Carolina. The data were collected on special survey forms and included detailed information about the location of the injury event. Results show that, overall, 70 percent of the reported bicycle injury events and 64 percent of the reported pedestrian injury events did not involve a motor vehicle. In addition, 31 percent of the bicyclists and 53 percent of the pedestrians were injured in non-roadway locations such as sidewalks, parking lots, or off-road trails. Increased knowledge of these events can contribute to more effective programme and countermeasure development to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety. (A)
Samenvatting