title: Bicycling crash circumstances vary by route type: a cross-sectional analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Widely varying crash circumstances have been reported for bicycling injuries, likely because of differing bicycling populations and environments. We used data from the Bicyclists' Injuries and the Cycling Environment Study in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, to describe the crash circumstances of people injured while cycling for utilitarian and leisure purposes. We examined the association of crash circumstances with route type.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adult cyclists injured and treated in a hospital emergency department described their crash circumstances. These were classified into major categories (collision vs. fall, motor vehicle involved vs. not) and subcategories. The distribution of circumstances was tallied for each of 14 route types defined in an earlier analysis. Ratios of observed vs. expected were tallied for each circumstance and route type combination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 690 crashes, 683 could be characterized for this analysis. Most (74%) were collisions. Collisions included those with motor vehicles (34%), streetcar (tram) or train tracks (14%), other surface features (10%), infrastructure (10%), and pedestrians, cyclists, or animals (6%). The remainder of the crashes were falls (26%), many as a result of collision avoidance manoeuvres. Motor vehicles were involved directly or indirectly with 48% of crashes. Crash circumstances were distributed differently by route type, for example, collisions with motor vehicles, including "doorings", were overrepresented on major streets with parked cars. Collisions involving streetcar tracks were overrepresented on major streets. Collisions involving infrastructure (curbs, posts, bollards, street furniture) were overrepresented on multiuse paths and bike paths.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data supplement our previous analyses of relative risks by route type by indicating the types of crashes that occur on each route type. This information can guide municipal engineers and planners towards improvements that would make cycling safer.
authors.affiliation: School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada. kay.teschke@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Teschke
authors.forename: Theresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frendo
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: M Anne
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Conor C O
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cripton
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brubacher
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cusimano
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Garth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hunte
authors.forename: Melody
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monro
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vernich
authors.forename: Shelina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Babul
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chipman
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Winters
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004779:Environment Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012306:Risk; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*