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First published online January 1, 2012

Relationships between Self-Reported Bicycling Injuries and Perceived Risk of Cyclists in Queensland, Australia

Simon Washington [email protected], Narelle Haworth, and Amy SchrammView all authors and affiliations

Volume 2314, Issue 1

https://doi.org/10.3141/2314-08

Abstract

Government focus on increasing active travel has motivated renewed interest in cycling safety. Because bicyclists are up to 20 times more likely to be involved in crashes with serious injury than are automobile drivers, an understanding of the relationships between risk factors for bicyclist crashes is necessary for identifying effective policy tools, for informing bicycle infrastructure investments, and for identifying high-risk bicycling contexts. A study was conducted to gain understanding of the complex relationships between bicyclist self-reported injuries resulting from crashes (e.g., hitting a car) and noncrashes (e.g., spraining an ankle) and perceived risk of cycling as a function of cyclist exposure, rider conspicuity, riding environment, rider risk aversion, and rider ability. Self-reported data from 2,500 Queensland, Australia, cyclists were used to estimate a series of seemingly unrelated regressions to examine the relationships between factors. The major findings suggest that perceived risk does not appear to influence injury rates, nor do injury rates influence perceived risks of cycling. Riders who perceived cycling as risky tended not to be commuters, did not engage in group riding, tended to always wear mandatory helmets and front lights, and lowered their perception of risk by increasing days per week of riding and by riding more on bicycle paths. Riders who always wore helmets had lower risk for crash injury. An increase in the number of riding days per week tended to decrease both crash injury and noncrash injury risk (e.g., a sprain). Further work is needed to replicate some of the study findings.

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Published In

Transportation Research Record

Volume 2314, Issue 1

Pages: 57 - 65

Article first published online: January 1, 2012

Issue published: January 2012

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© 2012 National Academy of Sciences.

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Authors

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Simon Washington

Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, School of Urban Development, Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety–Queensland, and Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia.

[email protected]

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Narelle Haworth

Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety–Queensland, K Block, Queensland University of Technology, 130 Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia.

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Amy Schramm

Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety–Queensland, K Block, Queensland University of Technology, 130 Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia.

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Notes

[email protected].

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