Detailed description of bicycle and passenger car collisions based on insurance claims
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2017
Today, cyclists constitute the highest percentage of severely injured road users in Sweden (Trafikverket, 2014). In particular, collisions between bicycles and motor vehicles often have the most serious outcomes. However, bicycle accidents are underreported in official databases (Elvik and Mysen, 1999) and information regarding accident details is very limited. The aims of this study were to investigate the frequency and severity of different accident scenarios and identify relevant factors and circumstances of these collisions. The detailed information about bicycle-car collisions at all levels of crash severity was obtained from insurance claims. A dataset of 882 collisions between bicycles and passenger cars in Sweden (2005-2012) was used for analysis (Isaksson-Hellman, 2012). Results showed that in over 78% of all bicycle-car collisions, the bicycle and car crossed each other's paths. In over 53% of these collisions, the cyclist crossed the roadway while following a bicycle path. In about half of these collisions the drivers reported that they did not see the cyclists beforehand. Collisions in which the bicycle and car were traveling in the same/opposite direction, the next most frequent type of collision, were less frequent (11%), but the injury severity was on average higher. These novel data, which cannot be found in other data sources, will enable new analyses, contributing to a better understanding of bicycle-car collisions in real road traffic situations. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
driving behavior
Engineering
Operations Research & Management Science
safety
motor-vehicle
Nytt nationellt informations system for skador och olyckor inom hela
intersections
2007
RADA slutrapport
injuries
Crossing situations
Insurance claims
attention
Same/opposite direction
Accident scenarios
Bicycle-car collision