Single- and non-single bicycle crashes at urban intersections: influential factors and comparison of ambulance- and police-reported crash datasets

Abstract

Widespread and common usage of bicycles makes cycling safety a critical issue, as over the years, cyclists’ injuries and fatalities have been rising. The majority of cycling safety literature justifiably focuses on the dangers posed by motor vehicles; however, single-bicycle crashes (SBCs) are a major portion of injuries and hospitalisations in the Netherlands. To address this gap, this study has a twofold objectives: 1) to compare SBCs and Non-SBCs in the police- and ambulance-reported crash datasets, and 2) to identify and examine different factors contributing to SBCs and Non-SBCs at urban intersections with 30 km/h and 50 km/h speed limits. For this purpose, we compared SBCs with non-SBCs (cyclist crashes involving other vehicles) by modelling the cyclist crash occurrence at urban intersections. This allowed estimating the effects of different factors associated with the built environment, infrastructure, and traffic exposure. To address the underreporting problem associated with police-reported datasets, we used ambulance dataset collected at the Flevoland region of the Netherlands. Results revealed that traffic and cycling volumes, as well as cycling infrastructure, have the most impact on increasing bicycle-involved crash counts. Furthermore, proximity to destinations is proved to be relevant, depending on the specific destination and type of crash it has an effect on. Traffic volume showed to be most relevant for Non-SBCs at 50 km/h roads, while cycling infrastructure had an important effect both on SBCs and Non-SBCs.