Accident configurations and injuries for bicyclists based on the German In-Depth Accident Study Chiara Orsi Centre of Study and Research on Road Safety University of Pavia
State of the art Vulnerable road users in Europe 20-40% of all journeys are travelled by bicycle or on foot Proportion of bicyclists fatalities: 6% Proportion of pedestrians fatalities: 17% 80% of vehicles striking cyclists and pedestrians are motor vehicles Source: European Commission http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/knowledge/pedestrians/index.htm
State of the art Bicyclists risks Less stable Less visible Less protection to the rider
Objectives Accident configurations and injuries To evaluate which are the most common configurations of accidents involving bicycles and to compare the frequency of injuries
Methods Data source and data collection GIDAS - German In-Depth Accident Study database In-depth approach and reconstruction methodologies All the bicycle riders involved in an accident in the years 2000-2010 in the areas of Hannover and Dresden
Methods Study areas
Methods Injuries analysis AIS: Scientific Abbreviated Injury Scale MAIS: Maximum AIS of all injuries of the body Severe injury: MAIS 3 AIS code Injury 0 Not injured 1 Minor 2 Moderate 3 Serious 4 Severe 5 Critical 6 Maximum
Accident collision partners Collision partner N % Passenger car 3145 63.8 Truck, bus, tram 325 6.6 Motorcycle, other 63 1.3 Bicycle 543 11.0 Pedestrian 182 3.7 Single accident 670 13.6 Total 4928 100.0
Accident consequences For 4770 (96.8%) riders, accident consequences are known Among these, 4427 (92.8%) reported injuries following the accident Among the injured riders, 242 (5.5%) were severely injured and 44 (1.0%) died following the accident
MAIS by body region
Accident consequences by collision partner Collision partner Injured MAIS 3 N (%) N % Passenger car 3019 (99.2) 147 4.9 Truck, bus, tram 305 (99.1) 28 9.2 Motorcycle, other 48 (85.7) 2 4.2 Bicycle 359 (67.2) 13 3.6 Pedestrian 93 (51.4) 1 0.6 Single accident 603 (93.3) 51 8.5 Total 4427 (92.8) 242 5.5
Most frequent accident configurations - 1 A non priority car and a bicycle with priority coming from a bicycle path A car and a bicycle coming from a parallel bicycle path which is turning into or crossing the road A bicycle and a car: a non priority vehicle and a priority vehicle from the left, not overtaking A bicycle and a car: a non priority vehicle and a priority vehicle from the right, not overtaking Accident configuration N % 977 19.8 331 6.7 318 6.5 281 5.7 A car turning off to the right and a bicycle from a special path going to the same or opposite direction 248 5.0
Most frequent accident configurations - 2 Two head-on encountering bicycles Accident configuration N % 169 3.4 Single accident on a straight road, without influences by road width or lateral gradient A car turning off to the left and a bicycle from a special path going to the same or opposite direction A bicycle and a car: a vehicle turning off to the left and oncoming traffic Conflict because of opening a car door 152 3.1 148 3.0 126 2.6 117 2.4
Injuries by accident configurations - 1 Accident configuration A non priority car and a bicycle with priority coming from a bicycle path A car and a bicycle coming from a parallel bicycle path which is turning into or crossing the road A bicycle and a car: a non priority vehicle and a priority vehicle from the left, not overtaking A bicycle and a car: a non priority vehicle and a priority vehicle from the right, not overtaking A car turning off to the right and a bicycle from a special path going to the same or opposite direction I % I 955 97.2 320 95.2 302 94.3 267 94.7 240 94.8 % SI % F 3.1 0.1 8.9 0.6 6.7 1.7 8.3 2.3 0.9 0.0
Injuries by accident configurations - 2 Accident configuration Two head-on encountering bicycles Single accident on a straight road, without influences by road width or lateral gradient A car turning off to the left and a bicycle from a special path going to the same or opposite direction A bicycle and a car: a vehicle turning off to the left and oncoming traffic Conflict because of opening a car door I % I 164 69.2 143 92.1 144 95.3 121 95.2 115 98.3 % SI % F 2.6 0.0 8.6 1.4 5.0 0.7 3.3 0.0 6.1 1.7
Injuries by accident configurations - 1 Accident configuration A non priority car and a bicycle with priority coming from a bicycle path A car and a bicycle coming from a parallel bicycle path which is turning into or crossing the road A bicycle and a car: a non priority vehicle and a priority vehicle from the left, not overtaking A bicycle and a car: a non priority vehicle and a priority vehicle from the right, not overtaking A car turning off to the right and a bicycle from a special path going to the same or opposite direction I % I 955 97.2 320 95.2 302 94.3 267 94.7 240 94.8 % SI % F 3.1 0.1 8.9 0.6 6.7 1.7 8.3 2.3 0.9 0.0
Injuries by accident configurations - 2 Accident configuration Two head-on encountering bicycles Single accident on a straight road, without influences by road width or lateral gradient A car turning off to the left and a bicycle from a special path going to the same or opposite direction A bicycle and a car: a vehicle turning off to the left and oncoming traffic Conflict because of opening a car door I % I 164 69.2 143 92.1 144 95.3 121 95.2 115 98.3 % SI % F 2.6 0.0 8.6 1.4 5.0 0.7 3.3 0.0 6.1 1.7
Impact of most frequent configurations 1 most frequent configuration 5 most frequent configurations 10 most frequent configurations % of accidents % of injuries % of severe injuries % of fatalities 19.8 21.5 12.0 2.3 43.7 46.7 41.7 31.8 58.2 61.0 55.4 43.2
Main findings In the majority of accidents the bicycle impacts with a passenger car, followed by single accidents The percentage of injured riders is higher if the bicycle impacts with an heavy vehicle and decreases when the bicycle impacts with lighter vehicles An high percentage of injured and severely injured riders in single accidents is observed
Main findings 10 most frequent configurations represent about 60% of accidents and more than 60% of injuries 5 most frequent configurations represent more than 40% of accidents and more than 45% of injuries The accident between a car and a bicycle with priority from a bicycle path represents alone almost 20% of accidents and more than 20% of injuries
Conclusions Implications Few configurations represent the majority of accidents and injuries address the preventive actions For example: 1. improve the bicycles conspicuity 2. educational intervention not only addressed to bicycle riders but also to other vehicles drivers Single accidents are dangerous attention should be paid to infrastructures, to make the vulnerable road users safer
Thank you! chiara.orsi@unipv.it