Monash University research of crashes that put 186 cyclists in hospital finds 69% occurred on-road, and 16% on bicycle paths

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Nearly a quarter of on-road cycling crashes in Victoria occur when cyclists are in a marked bicycle lane, and commonly in daylight and in clear weather, an analysis of crashes resulting in hospitalisation has found.

Researchers led by Monash University recruited patients from the Alfred and Royal Melbourne hospitals in Victoria, which manage more than 80% of cycling-related major trauma accidents each year. Of 345 cyclists admitted to one of the hospitals’ emergency departments for more than 24 hours over one year, 186 consented to take part in the study.

The median age of cycling injury patients was 44, and 81% were men. Most – 77% – had been cycling for more than a decade and most also cycled more than three times a week.

The findings, published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, found 69% of the crashes occurred on-road and 16% on bicycle paths. The other 15% happened on mountain bike trials, in BMX parks or at velodromes.

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Of the on-road crashes, 52% involved another road user, 72% of which were motor vehicles. One-fifth of them happened when the cyclist was riding in a bunch, and another cyclist was reported to have contributed in 71% of those cases. Ten on-road crashes occurred on tram tracks.

Crashes on bicycle paths on shared pedestrian and cycle paths made up 83% of cases, and 72% were single cyclist-only events. In shared-path cases, a pedestrian was reported to have contributed once.



The study’s lead author, Dr Ben Beck, from the university’s school of public health and preventive medicine, said the proportion of on-road crashes in designated cycling lanes indicated that they did not necessarily reduce the risk of injury.

“When you’re riding in a designated cycling lane but remain in close proximity to motor vehicles on your right-hand side, and parked cars with people opening doors on the left, of course that’s not necessarily conducive to safe riding,” he said.

“I will always promote cycling as a healthy and enjoyable mode of transport, but we need to really work hard towards developing a multi-faceted approach to addressing safety, which can be a barrier to participation.

“We need infrastructure to better separate cyclists from motor vehicles, and we need more targeted education campaigns addressing some of the key risk factors.”

The research found that before collisions between cyclists and motor vehicles, the vehicle and cyclist were approaching from opposite directions 48% of the time; 33% when a vehicle and cyclist were approaching from adjacent directions such as an intersection; and 17% when the vehicle and cyclist were travelling in the same direction.

Bicycle Network’s chief executive, Craig Richards, said despite crashes in bike lanes, they created accessible and attractive environments that encouraged more people to ride.

“So it’s expected that there will be higher incidences of crashes where more people are riding,” he said.

“When calculating the number of crashes on a route when compared with the number of riders, bike lanes still have a lower crash risk and are safer than no bike lanes at all.

“Bike lanes have a proven track record for encouraging more people of all ages to ride because separation from traffic remains the gold standard in safety and convenience.”