title: Pedestrian injuries due to collisions with bicycles in New York and California.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Scant attention has been given to pedestrians injured in accidents resulting from collisions with cyclists. This scholarly neglect is surprising given the growing popularity of cycling. This study examines the incidence of pedestrians injured by cyclists in New York between 2004 to 2011 and in California from 2005 to 2011. The study also profiles the pedestrians injured in these two states during these two time frames.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data for this study are based upon patient-level hospital records from New York and California. The data for New York comes from the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) under the auspices of New York State's Department of Health. The data for California come from two sources: the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) and the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rate of pedestrians injured in collisions with cyclists has decreased over time. This decline has occurred despite the increase in the number of cyclists in these states during this same time period. Two possible explanations for this decline are: (a) less exposure of children to cyclists, and (b) improvements in the cycling infrastructure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the rate of injuries to pedestrians from collisions with cyclists has been decreasing, improvements to the cycling infrastructure will need to continue. Bike lanes, particularly protected bike lanes, have been shown to be an effective way of reducing cycling-pedestrian accidents. The results of the current study are consistent with this research. Educational campaigns aimed at cyclists that emphasize the safety of all road users--including pedestrians--will also need to continue to assure that this downward trend in the number of accidents is not reversed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Hunter College-City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: ptuckel@hunter.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tuckel
authors.affiliation: Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, Hunter College-City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Milczarski
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, New York University, 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maisel
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D012449:Safety; D013997:Time Factors; D016138:Walking / Q000293:injuries* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Cyclists; Epidemiology; Injury; Pedestrians; Pedestrian–cyclist accidents