Australian Transport Safety Bureau data indicates that between 2000 and 2005, the number of cyclist deaths has ranged from 26 to 46 per year (about 2 or 3% of total deaths in road crashes in Australia). More meaningful Australian data on cycling crashes is difficult to access due the lack of exposure data for cycling, differences in police and hospital data records, lack of data retained by road traffic authorities and the fact that many cycling accidents occur off-road. Collated resources are as follows:
Australia
- ABC Cycling Data and Indicators Guidelines
Australian Bicycle Council, 2000, Austroads, Sydney
These Guidelines recommend reporting on 19 items of base cycling data and 30 cycling indicators. The base data and indicators have been organised under five categories of which the fifth is safety (including crashes). There is much data that is already collected and reported in a consistent and comparable manner on a state by state basis as well as nationally. Analysis and collection of data should reference these guidelines.
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- Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)
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Relevant publications or resources include the following:- 2006, Deaths of cyclists due to road crashes
ATSB Road Safety Report, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra
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The report gives an overview of the circumstances of road crashes in which cyclists died in the period 1991 to 2005 and provides more detail for 1996 to 2004, the latest period for which detailed data were available. It examines the incidence of helmet wearing among cyclist deaths, the major factors in fatal crashes involving cyclists and the main crash types. Age and gender distributions, day of week, time of day and speed limit at the crash site are also examined. - Serious injury due to land transport accidents, Australia 2006–07
Geoff Henley and James E Harrison (2009) ATSB, Aust. Institute of Health & Welfare, Commonwealth of Australia, Flinders University, AIHW Injury Research and Statistics Series, Number 53
This report presents national statistics on serious non-fatal injury due to land transport accidents in Australia during 2006-07. Males were more than 2 times than females to be hospitalised as a result of a land transport accident, while just over 50% of those hospitalised were aged less than 30 years. When looking at serious injury rates for road vehicle traffic crashes in relation to the number of kilometres travelled, the rate for motorcyclists was more than 37 times that of car occupants. Rates for the Northern Territory remained higher than those for all other jurisdictions over the period from 2000-01 to 2006-07.
View PDF - Serious injury due to land transport accidents, Australia, 2005-06
Berry, J.G. & Harrison, J.E. 2008, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Develpment and Local Government, Aust. Institute of Health & Welfare, Commonwealth of Australia, Flinders University, AIHW Injury Research and Statistics Series No. 42
This report looks at serious injury in Australia due to land transport accidents (including cyclists) in the period 2005–06. Serious injury is defined for this report as an injury which results in the person being admitted to hospital, and subsequently discharged alive either on the same day or after one or more nights stay in a hospital bed (i.e. deaths are excluded).
View PDF - Serious injury due to land transport accidents, Australia, 2003-04
Berry, J.G. & Harrison, J.E. 2007, ATSB, Aust. Institute of Health & Welfare, Commonwealth of Australia, Flinders University, AIHW Injury Research and Statistics Series No. 38
This report looks at serious injury in Australia due to land transport accidents (including cyclists) in the period 2003–04. Serious injury is defined for this report as an injury which results in the person being admitted to hospital, and subsequently discharged alive either on the same day or after one or more nights stay in a hospital bed (i.e. deaths are excluded).
View PDF - 2004, Monograph 17 – Cycle Safety: A national perspective
Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra
His monograph provides a statistical overview of the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on the public road system and a discussion of the available national activity data. It does not include data on cyclists killed and seriously injured in areas outside the public road system.
Visit Site - Road Fatality Statistics
Australian Transport Safety Bureau maintains the data collection on road fatality statistics for the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This web page hosts all fatality data from 2003 to April 2007 (at the time of writing). Cycling deaths are separately identified.
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- 2006, Deaths of cyclists due to road crashes
- Bicycle and motor vehicle crash characteristics
Watson, L.M.& Cameron, M.H., 2006, Monash University Accident Research Centre
This report describes the characteristics of crashes involving bicycles and motor vehicles and was based on data on police reported crashes in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia during 2000-2004.
Visit Site - Revolutions for Women: Increasing women’s participation in cycling for recreation and transport: Summary of key findings
Garrard, J., Crawford, S., Hakman, N., 2006, Department for Victorian Communities, Sport and Recreation Victoria
Section 5.5 outlines one of the few sources of data on harassment of cyclists (which influences feelings of personal security and safety).
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Australian State and Territory Statistics
For the most part, cycling safety statistics are not reported separately from Road Safety Statistics (easily found for relevant jurisdictions by searching on the internet). Some exceptions are as follows:
- Bicycle Crashes in the Australian Capital Territory
Whately, S., 1985, Federal Office of Road Safety, Canberra
This report investigates the nature and extent of bicycle crashes in the Australian Capital Territory, with the emphasis on crashes resulting in death or admission to an ACT hospital. Hospital in-patient morbidity statistics for the period July 1979 t o June 1983 were supplemented by information from police accident reports and a mailed questionnaire. Information was collected on the time and place of crash, crash causation, main injury, and cyclist characteristics.
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- Queensland Transport, Cycle Note series
Queensland Government, Brisbane
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Cycle Note C7: Cycling and heavy vehicles provides some analysis of crashes between heavy vehicles and cyclists and road environment as well as suggestions to improve design of the roadside environment to address potential conflicts. The note uses data from 1994 to 2001.
View PDF - Cyclists – Deaths and Injuries
Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (SA)
Provides a snapshot of cyclist death and injuries between 1994 and 2007 plus cyclist casualty trends between 1981 and 2003.
Visit Site - 1384.6 - Statistics - Tasmania
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2005, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra
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- Statistics - Tasmania is a statistical snapshot of Tasmania and Tasmanians. It brings together a range of ABS and non-ABS data to provide economic, social and demographic indicators for Tasmania. Data on cycling fatalities and injuries is available from the 2005 report onwards (reporting on the years 2001 to 2003).
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- Statistics - Tasmania is a statistical snapshot of Tasmania and Tasmanians. It brings together a range of ABS and non-ABS data to provide economic, social and demographic indicators for Tasmania. Data on cycling fatalities and injuries is available from the 2005 report onwards (reporting on the years 2001 to 2003).
- Bicycle Injury Hospitalisations and Deaths in Western Australia 1981-1995
Somerford, P., Pinder, T., Valuri, G., Price, S., Stevens, M., 1998, Injury Control Program, Disease Control, Health Information Centre, Health Department of Western Australia
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This report examines bicycle injury hospitalisations and deaths in Western Australia over the period 1981 to 1995. The statistics presented in this report are derived from available hospital morbidity and mortality data. As these data sources do not provide extensive information about the exact circumstances of bicycle crashes, it has not been possible to explore risk factors (other than demographic characteristics) in much detail. - RTA statistical reports about traffic crashes in NSW
These documents are prepared for information purposes, including research by road safety practitioners, and can be downloaded from their website.
Visit Site - Bicycling injuries and mortality in Victoria, 2001–2006
Sikic, M. et al (2009)
The incidence of serious bicycling injury has risen over recent years, highlighting the need for targeted prevention programs. Accurate data on cycling participation, use of injury prevention strategies, and injury profiles would assist in reducing bicycle-related injury.
Visit Site - Cycling and health: an opportunity for positive change?
Bauman, A. and Rissel, C. (2009)
Cycling, the fourth most popular physical recreation in Australia, is increasingly being used as a means of transport. As a form of regular physical activity, it confers substantial health benefits that are accessible to people of all ages.
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New Zealand
- Ministry of Transport (NZ), Motor Vehicle Crashes in New Zealand Annual Statistics
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Cyclist Crash Facts 2008 contains the latest summary of cyclist crash data including graphs and tables.
International
- Urban Bicycling: Is It Becoming Safer?
MICHELLE QUINN, 19 February 2010, The New York Times - The Bay Are
In the winter months, with more darkness and creepy fog, I obsess about bike lights, reflecting strips and bike flags, which I use for my children’s bicycle trailer. If I could encase my biking operation in neon, I would to do it, even to the point of looking ridiculous. Anything to increase my visibility on the road to drivers. I’m on the hunt for battery-operated Christmas lights to wind up the bike flags
Visit Site - Risky cycling rarely to blame for bike accidents
Peter Walker, 15 December 2009, guardian.co.uk
Study finds cyclists disobeying stop signal or wearing dark clothing at night rarely cited in collisions causing serious injury
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- Collisions involving pedal cyclists on Britain's roads: establishing the causes
J Knowles, S Adams, R Cuerden, T Savill, S Reid, M Tight, (2009) UK Transport Research Laboratory
In 2008, 115 pedal cyclists were killed and 2,450 reported as seriously injured on Britain’s roads, accounting for 9% of all killed or seriously injured (KSI) road casualties. The Government is committed to reducing road casualties for all road users, including cyclists, and has a national casualty target of reducing by 40% the number of people KSI in road collisions by 2010, compared with the baseline average for 1994-98. Whilst there is no specific target relating to cyclists, in 2004 the number of KSI had fallen to 38% below the baseline average. However, the number of KSI has increased steadily since then and in 2007 and 2008 was 31% below the baseline average. The Department for Transport commissioned research to assess the causes of collisions involving cyclists. This report investigates the key causal factors relating to accidents involving cyclists. The work involved an international literature review and a detailed analysis of cyclist casualties in Great Britain, drawing on both national and in-depth databases of road collisions and cycling. The main source of the casualty data was the national STATS19 injury accident data for 1994-2007. Contributory factor data has been recorded nationally as part of the STATS19 system from 2005 and is also reported. The main source of cycling activity data was the National Travel Survey (NTS).
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- Collisions involving pedal cyclists on Britain's roads: establishing the causes
- International Scan Summary Report on Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Mobility
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)
Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center
In May 2009, a team of 12 transportation professionals with expertise in bicycling and walking from the United States (U.S.) visited five countries in Europe to identify and assess effective approaches to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility. Some of the countries, like Denmark, had experienced an increase in car use in the 1960s and 1970s, and subsequently reoriented their transportation policy to give priority to bicycling and walking. The scan team heard presentations from and had informal discussions with the foreign hosts. During most visits, the scan team also went on guided field visits (by bike as well as by foot) to better understand and experience the design and operation of various walking and bicycling facilities. These field visits were invaluable in documenting the facilities through photos and video, observing traffic behavior, and experiencing firsthand how well a design or operational strategy worked.
View PDF - Graph of the Day: Bike Ridership and Casualties
Lloyd Alter, 17 August 2009, Canada: TreeHugger - Cars & Transportation (bikes)
We have noted before that when it comes to bicyles, there is safety in numbers; the more bikes on the road, the more aware drivers are of their existence. As we noted in our post Do Bicycle Helmet Laws Do More Harm Than Good?, from a 2003 study:
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More in the Daily News - Visit Site - Who Causes Cyclists’ Deaths?
By Freakonomics, 28 August 2009, The New York Times
More than 52,000 bicyclists have been killed in bicycle traffic accidents in the U.S. over the 80 years the federal government has been keeping records. When it comes to sharing the road with cars, many people seem to assume that such accidents are usually the cyclist’s fault — a result of reckless or aggressive riding. But an analysis of police reports on 2,752 bike-car accidents in Toronto found that clumsy or inattentive driving by motorists was the cause of 90 percent of these crashes (Visit Site). Among the leading causes: running a stop sign or traffic light, turning into a cyclist’s path, or opening a door on a biker.
Visit Site - greenz.jp, 23 July 2009, "Bicycle Fatalities Increase, Car Fatalities At Record Low", Japan: TreeHugger - Cars & Transportation
New data from the National Police Agency show that car-related fatalities are decreasing dramatically in Japan, while bicycle accidents are on the increase: The number of people who died while riding a bicycle increased by 5 percent to 310.
Visit Site - Bicycle Club of Casscade USA
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bikewise is a place to learn about and report bike crashes, hazards, and thefts. By sharing our experiences with each other, and with researchers and relevant agencies, we aim to make biking safer and more fun. You can help by adding your reports. - Tan, C., website, Crash-Type Manual for Bicyclist, Pub No. FHWA-RD-96-104, University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center
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This manual is the result of a US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) research study that applied the basic National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) bicycle and pedestrian typologies to a sample of bicycle-and pedestrian-motor vehicle crashes from six US States with the purpose of refining and updating the crash type distributions. - Harkey, D.L., Tsai, S., Thomas, L., and Hunter, W.W., undated, PBCAT—Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool, Version 2.0, Publication No. FHWA-HRT-06-090, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC
View PDF - The Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool (PBCAT)
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This is a crash typing software product intended to assist state and local pedestrian/bicycle coordinators, planners and engineers with improving walking and bicycling safety through the development and analysis of a database containing details associated with crashes between motor vehicles and pedestrians or bicyclists.
