Severe and Fatal Cycling Crash Injury in Britain: Time to Make Urban Cycling Safer

Amanda J Mason-Jones,Stephen Turrell,Caroline Tait,Robin Lovelace,Gerardo Zavala Gomez

doi:10.1007/s11524-022-00617-7

Amanda J Mason-Jones, Stephen Turrell + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-022-00617-7

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Abstract

Pedal cycling is advocated for increasing physical activity and promoting health and wellbeing. However, whilst some countries have achieved zero cyclist deaths on their roads, this is not the case for Great Britain (GB). A retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted of STATS19 cyclist crash data, a dataset of all police-reported traffic crashes in GB. Information about crash location, casualty, driver and vehicles involved were included as predictors of casualty severity (fatal or severe vs. slight). Sixteen thousand one hundred seventy pedal cycle crashes were reported during 2018. Severe or fatal cyclist crash injury was associated with increasing age of the cyclist (35–39 years, OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.73; 55–59 years, OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.35 to 2.2; 70 years and over, OR 2.87, 95% CI 2.12 to 3.87), higher road speed limits (50 MPH OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.43 to 3.07; 70 MPH OR 4.12, 95% CI 2.12 to 8.03), the involvement of goods vehicles (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.30 to 3.33) and the months of May and June (OR 1.34 to 1.36, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.73). Urban planning that includes physical separation of pedal cyclists from other road users, raising awareness around the risks from goods vehicles and reducing road speed should be the urgent focus of interventions to increase the benefits and safety of cycling.

Highlights

The Global Plan for a Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020 sought to tackle global road deaths and progress the 50% reduction in fatalities outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [1]
The majority of motor vehicle drivers involved in the cycle crashes were male (68.0%), the mean age was 44.2 years (SD = 16.31) and drivers were from a range of socio-economic backgrounds, the highest proportion were from more deprived quintile areas
This study explored the association between a range of individual, social and environmental variables with cycle casualty crash injury severity in the UK in 2018

Summary

Introduction

The Global Plan for a Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020 sought to tackle global road deaths and progress the 50% reduction in fatalities outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [1]. At least a quarter of all global injury-related deaths are the result of road traffic crashes, with people living in lowand middle-income countries disproportionately affected. Inequality in road deaths occurs within countries, with vulnerable, less affluent road users more at risk [2]. Global development is expected to increase road deaths by 2030 [2]. In the European Union (EU), 22,660 people lost their. Severe and Fatal Cycling Crash Injury in Britain lives on roads in 2019. EU countries have achieved a 24% reduction in road deaths since 2010, they are highly unlikely to achieve the 50% reduction target [3]

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