Study: What Puts Cyclists at Greatest Risk? It’s Not What You Wear

[Powerful Pete]

Interesting take-away, although often subject to debate… how are the accident and injury rates in places like Denmark, Belgium and/or The Netherlands where shared bike/car infrastructure is developed jointly (I recall studying in Belgium and doing 99% of my riding on rural roads that had a clearly demarcated bike lane but no physical separation… and the cars were moving fast).

[DismalScientist]

The comments correctly point out that the study deals with the severity of injuries due to being involved in a crash in various conditions, not the likelihood of being in a crash.

When choosing how and where to ride, I tend to try to minimize the likelihood of crashing, not so much the severity of the crash if I become a statistic.:rolleyes:

[brendan]

It’s curious they lump sidewalks and MUPs together. My non-scientific gut says that riding sidewalks is probably more likely to lead to a crash with a car than riding MUP, esp. if riding contra-flow.

[Steve O]

@brendan 105432 wrote:

It’s curious they lump sidewalks and MUPs together. My non-scientific gut says that riding sidewalks is probably more likely to lead to a crash with a car than riding MUP, esp. if riding contra-flow.

As Dismal points out, this study does not look at the likelihood of being in a crash. It compares the severity of injuries for those who were in crashes. I suspect you are correct, that riding on a sidewalk is more likely to lead to a crash.

[brendan]

@Steve O 105434 wrote:

As Dismal points out, this study does not look at the likelihood of being in a crash. It compares the severity of injuries for those who were in crashes. I suspect you are correct, that riding on a sidewalk is more likely to lead to a crash.

I suppose what I was attempting to say was that riding a sidewalk is more likely to involve a crash with a car than riding a MUP, which would lead to more severe injuries (statistically) and that’s why I found it odd that they were lumped together. Unless my gut is wrong and the level of injury seriousness is similar for both.

[Author]

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