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CHAPTER THREE: WHEN DO CYCLE ACCIDENTS HAPPEN?

This chapter explores the timing of cycling accidents by examining the time of year, the day of the week and the time of day when accidents are more likely to occur.

3.1 TIME OF YEAR

The number of casualties as a result of cycle accidents varies markedly by the time of year, with the greater proportion of casualties occurring over the summer months, with April to September accounting for the majority (72%).

Without a profile of cycle use by month we cannot directly quantify whether cycling accidents are more likely per cycle trip at particular times of the year. However there is strong evidence that there is less cycling activity in the winter months. The findings in an earlier survey of cycling in Scotland indicates that poor weather was the predominant reason for not cycling more often amongst households with a cyclist. Given leisure is also mentioned as a key reason for cycling this would be consistent to more cycling activity in summer in better weather and hence more cycle accidents.

Figure 2: Cycling casualties by month

An examination of the data by age indicates that adults show a much flatter curve than children suggesting that they are more likely to be all-weather, year-round cyclists and that many in the children's age group cycle considerably less in the poor weather of the winter months. Seventy-nine per cent of children's accidents occur over the 6 months between April and September compared to only 65% of the adult's accidents.

Figure 3: Cycling casualties by month by adult / child

3.2 DAY OF THE WEEK

The distribution of accidents by day of the week shows a greater proportion of accidents occurring at the weekend than on weekdays. This may be attributable to the greater amount of leisure cycling which presumably occurs on these days.

Figure 4: Cycling casualties by day of the week

Across weekdays there are dips on Tuesday and Thursday. There is no obvious reason for this pattern which is exhibited consistently across most age groups.

3.3 TIME OF DAY

Cycling accidents are more likely to occur in the afternoon and early evening. The peak time for accidents is 3.00pm to 6.00pm ( 28%) followed closely by 6.00pm to 9.00pm (23%).

Table 5: Cycling Casualties by Time of day

Adult cycling accidents would appear to be more evenly distributed across the day than children's cycling accidents.

Figure 5: Cycling casualties by time of day by adult / child

Children's accidents show a distinct peak after 3.00pm. Children are notably less likely to have an accident in the morning. Adults by contrast show a spread of times over which their accidents occur and a greater proportion of the adults will have their accident in the morning.

Young adults between the ages of 19 and 24 were more likely than other groups to sustain their accident between 9.00pm and midnight. This time period accounts for 13% of the 55 accidents sustained by this age group.

The general picture shows the accident peak for weekends as occurring earlier than for weekdays. It is also notable that the proportion of accidents occurring between 6.00am and 9.00am at the weekends drops sharply compared to weekdays presumably reflecting less travel to work or place of education at this time.

Figure 6: Cycling casualties by time of day by weekday / weekend

Although the total number of accidents are significantly reduced over the winter months, the proportion which occur in the early hours of the morning is much greater. Sixteen per cent of accidents between December and February occur between 6.00am and 9.00am compared to an average of 7% across the entire year. Although this is based on a very low sample it would suggest that the winter morning cycle journey is more risky than that at other times of the year.

During the summer months there are a greater proportion of accidents occurring in the mid afternoon from 3.00pm to 6.00pm (32%). This might be attributable to increased cycling for leisure purposes.

Table 6 : Time of accident by season

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