Collision Analysis: An Analysis Of Bicycle-Vehicle Collisions

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2.2. Bicycle-Vehicle Collisions
2.2.1. Collision analysis
Statistics taking from Spain, United Kingdom, Germany and Netherlands show the majority of all bicycle accidents involve a motor-powered vehicle such as a car, bus, truck, tram, etc... [9]. In Germany in 2011, 10% of fatally injured road users were cyclists [13]. Bicycle-vehicle accident accounted for 60% of all bicycle accidents, while bicycle-pedestrian and bicycle only accidents make up 5~6% and 12~16% respectively [9]. Data presented in a report conducted in Germany stated, accidents involving collisions with vehicles accounted for 38% of all bicycle traumas while 26% of incidents involved the rider only [14]. The most common collision partner in a bicycle-vehicle accident was a …show more content…

fog, after dark on unlighted sections; Vehicle speed was directly related to fatality rates [3]; The bumper was responsible for 23.4% of all injuries in bicycle-vehicle accidents followed by the bonnet (20%), the bonnet edge (19.7%), and the windscreen (14.7%); The road surface (secondary contact) accounted for 59.5% of injuries (for head injuries, contact with the windscreen and bonnet were the main contributors followed by secondary impact with the road (26%)); in data presented by Peng (2012) the head struck the roof of the vehicle 4 times from 17 [6]; a more pronounced bonnet leading edge increases cyclist injury severity; although cyclists are able to travel at higher speeds, 60% of vehicle-bicycle accidents occurred at cyclist speeds of 5 km/h or less, and 90% at 10 km/h or less; in Germany, 31% of injuries were caused by impact with the road surface, also interesting were bumper (8%), windscreen (10%) and bonnet leading edge (14%); Bicycle design is unlikely to have a significant influence on cyclist injuries …show more content…

Bicycle helmets are a form of passive protection and have been proven to reduce both severity and incidence of bicyclist head injuries. Countless studies have proven the effectiveness of helmets to reduce the severity of a head injury [14], with the probability of fatal injury occurrence also greatly decreased [3]. Tests revealed that the helmet reduced the resultant peak of acceleration by 29% when compared to the unprotected form [13]. Despite these findings only a minor proportion (4%) of bicycle crash victims wore helmets at the time of incident [14]. Another study reported that 94% of cyclists involved in an accident did not wear a helmet [3]. At least 50% of the cyclist with recorded head injuries scored of 3 or 4 on the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) did not wear a helmet at the time of accident [13]. Interestingly pedal cyclists suffered more frequent head injuries than those riding a

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