Road environment and cyclists injured from a collision with a motor vehicle: What risk factors in a regional, low density setting?

Abstract

The focus on health, the environment and sustainable mobility make cycling a preferred choice as a mode of transportation. However, cyclists are very vulnerable in the event of a collision with a motor vehicle, especially in suburban and rural areas where the planning of the road is much less suitable for cycling. The general objective of this study is to document the risk factors related to the road environment for collisions between a cyclist and a motor vehicle in a less dense “regional environment” (small and medium sized communities). To analyze collision data, several methods were used: Kernel Density Estimation, Kulldorff spatial scan statistics, Poisson regression and logistic regression. Our results show that the spatial concentrations of collisions are mostly near the cycling infrastructure and intersections. There are some risk factors to explain a collision (intersection; presence of cycling infrastructure; urban areas; urban arteries) and to explain an injured cyclist (lack of cycling infrastructure; young cyclists (15 years and under); lighting conditions). In conclusion, our study on low-density environments produces results that converge with those of the existing literature on urban areas, but also shows some specific features. Similar risk factors to urban areas are intersections, urban arterials and the age of the victims and specific risk factors for low density areas are urban area, the presence of cycling infrastructure and lighting conditions (night).