In recent years, the share of bicycle victims increased to nearly a third of all road fatalities and two-thirds of the number of serious road injuries. In order to achieve the national road safety objectives, it is of great importance to improve road safety for cyclists. Bicycle lighting contributes to cyclists’ road safety. From the winter of 2003/2004 onwards, Rijkswaterstaat has monitored cyclists’ lighting. New data were collected in the winter of 2017/2018. In conditions of darkness (< 3 lux) and twilight (3 to 26 lux) the lighting of cyclists was observed visually, distinguishing front and rear light, and situations of lighting/non-lighting (switched off or non-existent). Also, it was observed whether lights complied with existing and official regulations or not. During the December 2017/January 2018 research, lighting of in total 16,382 cyclists was observed and recorded. 66% of all cyclists observed used front and rear lights. During the previous research in December 2015/January 2016, this was 64%. In December 2017/January 2018, 64% of all cyclists observed had lights complying with regulations, this was 62% in December 2015/January 2016. Variations between cities have been observed in the use of bicycle lighting. On average, lighting is less frequently used in the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht) than elsewhere in The Netherlands. This also applies to the compliance with official regulations. There is a relationship between age class and bicycle lighting. Youngsters and young adults use bicycle lights less frequently than people in older age groups. Bicycle lighting in morning hours is slightly more frequent than in evening hours. Well-functioning bicycle lights are considerably more frequent on E-bikes than on classic non-e-bikes. During the December 2017/January 2018 research, 99% of the bicycle lights front and rear were attached to the bicycle. Since the introduction of new regulations in November 2008, lights may also be attached to the upper body. Apparently, this broadening of the rules is not utilized much; compliance to the new regulations is now 0.3% higher in comparison with the old regulations. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting