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

Inés Blanes Martín-Posadillo; Teun Uijtdewilligen; Mehmet Baran Ulak

doi:10.55329/uico3638

Authors

Inés Blanes Martín-Posadillo Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3406-6353
Teun Uijtdewilligen Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV), the Netherlands
Mehmet Baran Ulak University of Twente, the Netherlands https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0893-3871

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55329/uico3638

Keywords:

ambulance data, cyclists safety, single-bicycle crashes, urban intersection crashes, Western Europe

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.

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Author Biographies

Inés Blanes Martín-Posadillo, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands

Inés Blanes Martín-Posadillo is a MSc student at the Delft University of Technology in the Transport & Planning Department. She graduated Bachelor of Civil Engineering at the University of Twente where she developed an interest in transport, networks, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

Teun Uijtdewilligen, Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV), the Netherlands

Teun Uijtdewilligen obtained his PhD at University of Twente on the thesis Road safety of cyclists in Dutch cities. He investigates road safety for cyclists in the scope of infrastructure, particularly in urban areas. This is also the topic of his PhD research, a collaboration with the University of Twente. In this research, several (open) data sources are combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and analysed by using Crash Prediction Models. In addition, Teun works on research into road safety knowledge of municipal civil servants and their knowledge on road safety measures. This is investigated by conducting interviews and questionnaires.

CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

Mehmet Baran Ulak, University of Twente, the Netherlands

Mehmet Baran Ulak received his PhD at the Florida Sate University. His research interests focus on the analysis of traffic safety problems, network modelling of mobility and accessibility, demographic and socioeconomic assessment of daily transportation incidents and natural hazards, and smart mobility concepts. He is a member of academic and professional organisations, namely the Young Academy Twente, the International Association of Traffic Safety Researchers, the European Consortium of Innovative Universities, and the Network on European Communications and Transport Activities Research. He is an assistant professor at the University of Twente since 2020.

CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

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