Interesting data on cyclists' injuries

Brendan Burgess

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I heard this report on RTE's lunchtime news and will study it later

Number of road crash injuries is double level reported by gardaí, new figures show

RSA data highlights particularly significant discrepancy in number of cyclist injuries
www.irishtimes.com


Serious cyclist injury data under the MAIS3+ system showed 80 per cent were male, and the large majority were aged between 25 and 64.

Most hospital injuries for cyclists (38 per cent) were leg fractures, closely followed by head injuries (27 per cent). Spine and neck injuries combined accounted for 5 per cent of hospital recorded injury.

A lot of injuries suffered by cyclists do not involve another vehicle. They fall off their bike.

80% are men (probably a majority of cyclists are men but hardly 80%?)

Not sure how meaningful the age bit is. I fell off my bike regularly as a young lad and would bounce back off the ground. I am much more cautious now because any fall is much more severe.

Brendan
 
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CSO data backs that up, in 2016, 73% of those commuting by bicycle were male. I recall reading a while back that mentioned male cyclists travel greater distances on average, some coverage of that in this paper.
 
I would imagine a lot of the accidents not involving other vehicles are also not commuter related. They are more likely to be men (mostly) on weekend cycling where much higher speeds are involved.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
A lot of injuries suffered by cyclists do not involve another vehicle. They fall off their bike.
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They may not involve another vehicle as such but could be because of other cyclists, pedestrians, pets on a lead or not or could be just the good old pot hole that the cyclist didn't see in time.
There are many reasons why a cyclist could "Fall off their bike" up to and including the cyclist
 
Doesn't the article basically say the same thing?
Some of it includes road injuries not reported to gardaí, for example crashes involving single cyclists, often due to road conditions or loss of control.
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Billybob said:
I’d be very interested to see similar data for e-scooters
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Given they're still illegal pending EU ratification, survey participants might be reticent to be fully honest so an accurate picture of commuting use might be a challenge, but the article above does reference scooters and accident rates.
 
I find it interesting that the death rates in Dublin are so low relative to population.
 
Or (very likely in my experience) because of other vehicles (but without a collision with them). I've lost count of the number of times cars/vans/etc. pull in front of me without looking while I'm cycling (cut me off while turning/drive in cycle lane suddenly/etc.), which could easily cause loss of control without affecting the other vehicle at all. As several here have said, the article is frustratingly light on data/references, and I think this is generally a problem with reporting of road statistics.
 
As a regular cyclist it is my opinion that the number one cause of collisions between cars/vans and cyclists is cyclist behaviour.
 
As a regular cyclist my last 'falls' have been from:
A stone the size of a mug that I hadn't seen - wounded pride & grazes.
New bike with brake levers opposite to normal, cost one broken finger.
Pedestrian jumping out in front of me without looking, broken elbow for me.
Skidding on a smooth manhole - broken rib.

These all occurred at reasonably low speeds in a city.
From time to time I cycle in rural/mountain areas "where much higher speeds are involved" - I haven't had accidents on these.

I don't get hit by vehicles, because I treat every car/van/truck like a predator that is actively trying to kill me.
An example of this is at every leg of a roundabout I pass, I turn my flashing lights (day or night, they are on) towards the drivers waiting to enter the roundabout, and try to make eye contact - many still enter the roundabout as they just don't look.
 
Well said. Me too.

And where some cyclists behaviour definitely cause accidents I believe that my behaviour (zero trust, super vigilant) has protected me from many instances of poor driver behaviour.

Not looking for a medal. Would just like drivers to slow down, give cyclists space and put their phones away.
 
You mentioned smooth manhole - just noting LUAS tracks can have particular risks:

Can Dublin's Luas tram tracks be made safer for cyclists?

A video analysis of cyclists crossing tram tracks in the city has identified various risk levels and contributory factors
www.rte.ie
 
PGF2016 said:
Would just like drivers to slow down, give cyclists space and put their phones away
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It would be helpful if cyclists also put their phones away. I've seen many with their phone to their ear and more than a few texting while cycling.
 
Cyclists of all ages are vulnerable users of our roads. They have no protection and are easy prey for the all uncaring road users including other cyclists. Having had close contacts with cars, vans, trucks etc I’ve abandoned using roads when on my bike and now confine my cycling to greenways. I bought a car rack for our bikes and drive to whatever greenway and then we cycle in safety. Unless all Road users (including cyclists) learn good road behaviour accidents will continue to increase.
 
Not entirely sure why the disproportionate focus on cyclists.
Especially when its not clear if all the cyclist data is off road or someone actually on the road.

Its research found that 42 per cent of hospital recorded cases were car users, compared with 26 per cent for cyclists.
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Common trait of Irish media to present a body of data when cyclists are the lesser % but yet end up being the primary focus of the article. Here's another...

https://www.thejournal.ie/rsa-report-child-casualties-and-fatalities-on-irish-roads-6188668-Oct2023/

Of those 908 children who were killed or seriously injured, just over

(51%) were pedestrians,
28% were vehicle passengers, and
18% were cyclists.
Click to expand...
 
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