Industrialized Cyclist Notepad


Fernando Alonso

F1 driver hit by car while cycling in Switzerland, according to unconfirmed reports, but conscious. And “well in himself.” This is supposedly a statement from his team:

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Mineta Bikeshare Safety Study

Assumptions and facts, all mixed up.

Click to access 1204-bikesharing-and-bicycle-safety.pdf

minetabikesharestudy



Family Biking: The Parent’s Guide to Safe Cycling

Christie and I both worked on this one. The book includes a comprehensive buyer’s guide for family biking Things like bakfietsen, cargo trikes, longtails, child seats, trailers, balance bikes and kids’ helmets, with in-depth, research-based commentary on safety issues. Is transporting your kid in a child seat as dangerous as people say? Are trailers safe in traffic? When is a child ready to ride by herself?

In answering these questions and dozens of others, we came across some surprising facts. For instance, we learned that approximately half of the kids’ injuries associated with bike seats occur when loading or unloading the child from the seat. We also found out, much to our dismay, that helmet makers have been allowed by federal regulators to make kids’ helmets with the same material that adult helmets are made of, even though kids’ heads are so much lighter—meaning the foam in kids’ helmets almost never compresses to soften the blow when they crash. In our opinion, it’s a scandal and needs to be fixed, by the helmet companies and the CPSC. We hope this book will help make that happen.

I promise this book will be interesting and useful for anyone who rides with their kid(s), or anyone who wants to.

Available now for just 14$ at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Family-Biking-Parents-Guide-Cycling/dp/1493009893

familybikingcoversmall

To check out the rest of my books see www.industrializedcyclist.com/books.html



Bicycling Accident Statistics – U.S.

The following list of papers and links to papers or abstracts is from the Industrialized Cyclist Bicycling Research Page. Go to http//:www.industrializedcyclist.com/lies.html to click the links. The Research Page also has similar lists for international accident statistics, patterns of use, docs related to facilities and planning, cycling-related laws, helmets and more.

EVERY BICYCLIST COUNTS 2014 report from the League of American Bicyclists found 40% of cyclist fatalities the result of a hit-from-behind.

KAPLAN’S SURVEY OF L.A.W. MEMBERS Viet-Nam War-era cycling survey, 1974. Note: this is on the website of John Allen. Or download pdf.

ADULT BICYCLISTS IN THE UNITED STATES – CHARACTERISTICS AND RIDING EXPERIENCE IN 1996 (pdf) William Moritz’ survey of LAB members. An update of Kaplan with similar numbers. Are they good or bad? Depends on your perspective.

MORITZ’ INTERNET SURVEY OF BICYCLE COMMUTERS Another relatively robust survey from William Moritz, and very similar results.

THE CROSS STUDY This study of 384 accidents that occurred in Santa Barbara in the early 1970s has been cited in support of all kinds of claims. Should it be? Note: only on the website of John Forester.

CROSS-FISHER ’77 (pdf) Volume One of the landmark study prepared for the US Department of Transportation by Kenneth Cross and Gary Fisher. “A Study of Bicycle/Motor-Vehicle Accidents: Identification of Problem Types and Countermeasure Approaches,” vol. 1, September 1977.

BICYCLE ACCIDENTS AND USAGE AMONG YOUNG ADULTS This 1976 survey showed relatively alarming accident numbers for young riders. Note: on the website of John Forester.

CRASH TYPE MANUAL FOR CYCLISTS From the Federal Highway Administration, by Carol Tan, 1996.

NORTH CAROLINA BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN CRASH DATA TOOL. A database of all reported collisions in N.C. for ten years, includes age of victim, crash type, etc.

FHWA’S BIKE-PED PUBLICATION PAGE Facilities, education and more.

KEN KIFER’S 2001 BICYCLE SAFETY SURVEY A small survey of touring cyclists that seems to corroborate larger surveys of experienced riders, but finds strikingly bad news in the relative danger of cycling versus driving.

FLORIDA BICYCLIST AND PEDESTRIAN CRASH EXPOSURE (pdf) Based on 2002 phone survey.

IDAHO TRAFFIC CRASHES 2012 (pdf) Includes rudimentary information about bicycle crashes in the “Idaho Stop” state.

ON-ROAD BICYCLE FACILITIES AND BICYCLE CRASHES IN IOWA, 2007-2010 Abstract, July 2013, Accident Analysis and Prevention.

BICYCLE ACCIDENTS IN WASHINGTON STATE, 1988-1993 (pdf) A survey of police records by Ralph Wessels.

CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE SAFETY STUDY OF BICYCLES AND PEDESTRIANS ON FREEWAYS, EXPRESSWAYS, TOLL BRIDGES, AND TUNNELS 2001 report by Ferrara, San Jose State University.

MANNER AND FAULT IN BICYCLIST FATALITIES : ARIZONA 2009 (pdf) Small sample size.

BICYCLIST FATALITIES AND SERIOUS INJURIES IN NEW YORK CITY 1996-2005 (pdf) Collaboration of local government agencies.

“ONLY GOOD CYCLIST” (pdf) Study of NYC police reports by Right of Way group concludes motorists are more often at fault in car-bike collisions. See also “KILLED BY AUTOMOBILE,” (pdf) 1999 report from Right of Way organization on pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in NYC 1994-1997.

“ON ‘DOORINGS’ OF BICYCLISTS …” Article by Al Baker on New York Times’ City Room blog, October 28, 2010, includes some figures on numbers of doorings in New York state, and information on applicable laws.

BOSTON EMS BIKE CRASH DATA MAP Shows EMS responses to bike accidents in city of Boston, one year, October 31, 2009 to October 31, 2010.

OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES AMONG BOSTON MESSENGERS Harvard researcher J. Dennerlein presents a non-robust 2002 survey that focuses on the danger of messenger work, but with data that (inadvertently, and unknown to prof. Dennerlein) confirms veteran messengers carry accident rates better than those found in the major surveys of club cyclists.

BICYCLE-MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS IN METROPOLITAN BOSTON 1979-80 On John Allen’s site. This old study by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council is based on a sampling of reported collisions, and confirms a profound correlation of age with accident type.

CITY OF BOISE CYCLING SAFETY TASK FORCE FINAL REPORT (pdf) 2009 report contains crash statistics for previous five years, recommends continuing ‘Idaho Stop’ law.

SAFE STREETS BOULDER 2012 (pdf) A study of motor vehicle accidents involving bicycles and pedestrians, study period 2008-2011. From the City of Boulder. See Robert Hurst’s thoughts on this study here: BOULDER STREETS SAFE?

BICYCLE ACCIDENTS IN FORT COLLINS, COLORADO 2000-2009 (pdf) Survey of reported accidents appears to show accident and injury rates on the rise.

CITY OF MADISON, WISCONSIN 2010 CRASH REPORT (pdf).

MESA ARIZONA BIKE-CAR WRECK STUDY (pdf) Study of police reports from all reported accidents in Mesa, Arizona in 2005.

THE OHSU PORTLAND, OREGON BICYCLIST INJURY SURVEY (pdf) Published in Trauma, November, 2010. Introduces a rather expansive definition of “traumatic event.”

SEATTLE INTERACTIVE BICYCLE ACCIDENT MAP 2011 From the Seattle Times.

SAN FRANCISCO BIKE ACCIDENT DATABASE 2010 The Bay Citizen.

FATALITY ANALYSIS REPORTING SYSTEM (FARS) Seductive numbers of dubious utility. People want to draw conclusions from the annual fatality numbers, but the conclusions don’t necessarily follow. See also: FARS PEDALCYCLIST PAGE. See also this article by Robert Hurst commenting on the different fatality numbers provided by the FARS and WISQARS databases.

ROAD FATALITIES USA Map of US road deaths for all users, from FARS database, 2001-2009. Zoom-in-outable.

BICYCLIST DEATHS AND FATALITY RISK PATTERNS Abstract, Gregory Rodgers, Accident Analysis and Prevention, April 1995.

INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY’S BICYCLE FATALITY ANALYSIS PAGE Meta-analysis of FARS data.

THE NEISS HOME PAGE CPSC’S National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), the best injury data available. See also THE NEISS CODING MANUAL (pdf).

WISQARS (WEB-BASED INJURY STATISTICS QUERY AND REPORTING SYSTEM) Uses NEISS data. See also this article by Robert Hurst commenting on the different fatality numbers provided by the FARS and WISQARS databases.

CYCLISTS INJURED WHILE SHARING THE ROAD WITH MOTOR VEHICLES Abstract of 2007 article by Haileyesus, et al in Injury Prevention. Analysis of NEISS data shows car-bike crashes are involved in only about 15% of all cyclist ER visits.

RISK FACTORS FOR BICYCLE-MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISIONS AT INTERSECTIONS By Alan Wachtel and Diana Lewiston. A look at reported collisions from the late 1980s in Palo Alto, California, crossed with exposure data provided by the city. On Bicyclinglife.

INJURY SEVERITY IN BICYCLE-MOTOR VEHICLE CRASHES Abstract of 2006 article using police-reported data from North Carolina.

BICYCLE-RELATED INJURIES 2001 article by Thompson and Rivara in American Family Physician.

PEDIATRIC HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR BICYCLE-RELATED INJURIES Abstract of 2007 article from Injury Prevention.

THE OHIO BICYCLE INJURY STUDY Abstract of 1995 paper examining 52 hospital admissions of child cyclists in Ohio.

CPSC’S BICYCLE USE AND HAZARD PATTERNS IN THE UNITED STATES (pdf) One of the most … questionable documents on the list. See also Dr. Gregory Rodgers’ informative DEFENSE OF THE CPSC STUDY against John Allen.

2010 NHTSA BICYCLISTS AND OTHER CYCLISTS FACT SHEET (pdf) / 2008 NHTSA BICYCLISTS AND OTHER CYCLISTS FACT SHEET (pdf) / 2007 NHTSA PEDALCYCLIST FACT SHEET (UPDATED) (pdf) / 2007 NHTSA PEDALCYCLIST FACT SHEET (pdf) / 2004 NHTSA PEDALCYCLIST FACT SHEET (pdf) / 2001 NHTSA PEDALCYCLIST FACT SHEET (pdf) / 1998 NHTSA PEDALCYCLIST FACT SHEET (pdf) / 1993 NHTSA PEDALCYCLIST FACT SHEET (pdf) Beware of ‘Fact Sheets,’ especially when they contradict other ‘Fact Sheets’ produced by the same agency.

2005 MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC CRASH FATALITY COUNTS AND INJURY ESTIMATES (pdf) NHTSA estimates show marked increase in injuries to non-occupants in 2005.

INCIDENCE OF PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLIST CRASHES BY HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES (pdf) 2009 NCSA report.

INJURY TO PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS (pdf) FHWA analysis based on data from a handful of emergency rooms. Data collected ’95-’96.

NHTSA PEDESTRIAN CRASH REPORT (pdf) Updated through 2006, report released 2008. See also PEDESTRIAN ROADWAY FATALITIES (pdf) 2003 NHTSA report. Neither report mentions bike-ped collisions.

SAFETY IN NUMBERS: MORE WALKERS AND BICYCLISTS, SAFER WALKING AND BICYCLING Abstract of 2003 paper by Jacobsen. This paper merits a special chapter in THE CYCLIST’S MANIFESTO.

THE CONTINUING DEBATE ABOUT SAFETY IN NUMBERS (pdf) 2006 paper from the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center examines the theory with respect to pedestrian data from Oakland, finds a relationship.

THE IMPACT OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE ON BICYCLING INJURIES AND CRASHES: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 2009 meta-analysis of 23 papers, in Environmental Health. See also FACILITIES AND PLANNING below.

USE OF ALCOHOL AS A RISK FACTOR FOR BICYCLING INJURY 2001 article on the JAMA site.

ALCOHOL, BICYCLING AND HEAD AND BRAIN INJURY: A STUDY OF IMPAIRED CYCLISTS’ RIDING PATTERNS (Abstract) Analysis of 200 patients processed through a regional trauma center in Austin, Texas.

ACCIDENT ANALYSIS AND PREVENTION Free abstracts and tables of contents for this important journal.

A GUIDE FOR REDUCING COLLISIONS INVOLVING BICYCLES 2008 report by Transportation Research Board from analysis of several data sets. View pdf via TRB website.



Maryland House Bill 339

Would require helmets for adults on bicycles.

HOUSE BILL 339 (pdf).



The invisible bike helmet

… Designed to inflate like an airbag in the event of a collision.

By Hovding.

Here’s how it works: Sensors in the collar detect unusual movements by the wearer. Upon impact, the sensors trigger a gas inflator that pumps air into an airbag that’s folded into the collar, which fully inflates around the head it in 0.1 seconds. Hövding, which is available in Europe for SEK3,998 (about $595), weighs about 1 1/2 lbs. and uses a rechargeable battery. It must be turned on. About one hour before the battery runs out, it makes a “battery low” sound.

Via http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-26/an-invisible-bike-helmet-from-sweden

I see a little problem with this. “Unusual head movements…” There is a fair bit of head movement in normal non-crashy cycling, so the Device would have to be calibrated to ignore all that. In the event of a solo wreck during which the front wheel is suddenly removed from beneath the rider (a relatively common path to head injury for bicyclists), for example, when a rider totally wipes out on black ice or a wet streetcar rail, the first sign of “unusual head movement” that would be detected by the Device could very well be that of the head impacting the pavement structure. In other words, too late. And so the rider is injured twice, first by slapping the skull onto the pavement structure, and second by paying six-hundred bucks for an invisible helmet that inflates only after the collision has occurred, thus launching the injured rider’s head off the ground rudely with further negative consequences to his or her neck and overall temperment. However, it may do quite well at detecting sudden accelerations involved with collision with a motor vehicle or fixed object.