title: Bicycle accidents and injuries: a pilot study comparing hospital- and police-reported data.
abstract: Bicycle accident and injury data collected by two different samples of North Carolina hospital emergency rooms during the summers of 1985 and 1986 are examined and compared with state police-reported bicycle accident data for the same time periods. Of the 649 emergency room treated bicyclists, 62% were children aged 5-14 and 70% were male. Nineteen percent of the riders suffered moderate or worse injuries (AIS greater than or equal to 2), and 6% were hospitalized. In contrast, less than half of the police-reported accidents involved riders under 15 years of age, 85% of the riders were male, and two-thirds suffered moderate or worse injury. Whereas virtually all of the police-reported accidents involved a motor vehicle, less than a fifth of the emergency room cases did. Only 10% of the emergency room cases were duplicated on the state accident files. It is estimated that 800 children ages 0-19 are hospitalized annually in North Carolina for bicycle-related injuries, and an additional 13,300 children receive emergency room treatment.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina, Highway Safety Research Center, Chapel Hill.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Stutts
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Whitley
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Sheldon
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001642:Bicycling; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D009657:North Carolina; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011996:Records; D012737:Sex Factors; D012926:Social Control, Formal; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*