Analysis of pedal cyclist casualties from road traffic collisions in North East England, 2010 to 2014

This report provides analysis of the Stats 19 data collected by the three police forces in North East England on pedal cyclist casualties on the region’s road network between 2010 and 2014.

Between 2007 and 2014 there has been an almost year on year increase in both the number of pedal cyclists injured on the roads in North East England, and the proportion of total injuries that this road user group accounts for.

This report was produced to provide analysis for road safety professionals in the North East of England on pedal cyclist casualties to aid in road safety intervention planning. While there is some consideration of longer term trends, the main analysis conducted in this report focuses on the five year period between January 2010 and December 2014.

This research topic was chosen for detailed investigation due to the well documented increases seen in the North East (as well as nationally) over the last few years in both the number of people cycling, but also the number of cyclists injured on the region’s roads. For example, since 2007 the DfT estimates that there has been a 23% increase in the number of miles travelled by cyclists on the region’s public roads, but the police’s Stats 19 records show that cyclists are also one of the few road user groups who have seen an increase in casualty numbers over those seen in the 2005 to 2009 baseline average. This is still the case when taking account of the rise in the number of miles estimated to have been travelled by cyclists in the region during the period, with the injury rate also seeing an increase over the baseline.

Cyclists are also over-represented in casualty statistics compared to other road user groups, with cycle miles accounting for less than 1% of total miles travelled on the region’s roads, but cyclists making up 8% of total road user casualties and 12% of people killed or seriously injured. However, it should be pointed out that cycling is not an inherently dangerous activity, as the vast majority of journeys undertaken by cyclists on public roads in the North East end safely, with only around one in 46,000 trips resulting in an injury. Furthermore, given the nature of this report, we have not attempted to take into account the wider benefits of cycling, such as to health and wellbeing, with the intention being to direct road safety professionals towards the main road safety problems that can be addressed with targeted intervention work.

In brief, there were several important findings from this report that should be considered when planning pedal cyclist safety interventions in the North East, including:

• The main area for attention is the interaction between cyclists and other road users at junctions, but particularly with car drivers (not HGVs).
• The failure to look properly is also a very noticeable factor in pedal cyclist collisions, again, particularly at junctions.
• There are clear differences between adult (16+) and child (0-15) pedal cyclist injuries, so these two groups should be addressed with different interventions.
• Child cyclist interventions should focus on improving the child’s road safety awareness and skills as they are most usually the main cause of their injury, while for adult cyclists interventions should have a dual focus on both the cyclist and other road user(s) involved in the collision.
• Interventions should be focused on urban cycling.
• For adults, the main focus should be on cycling on major single carriageway roads, while for children it should target cycling on minor roads in residential areas.
• Males are far more likely than females to both cycle and be injured while cycling so they should be the main focus for road safety intervention work.
• Cycle safety campaigns should be run between June and September for adults, and in the Easter and summer school holidays for children.