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CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE DO ACCIDENTS HAPPEN?

This chapter examines where the accident took place and the extent to which off road accidents contribute to the overall casualty rate.

Forty-one per cent of cycling accidents occur off road. A very high proportion of these off-road accidents occur on cycle tracks (51%) or forest tracks / mountain bike trails (6%). Many who were on a mountain bike tracks such as Glentress simply coded their response as cycle track and so these two categories should be examined together. Another 20% of off road accidents occurred in parks.

A significant proportion (29%) of accidents occur on the pavement. Of those who reported their accident as occurring on a pavement, 18% also said it had occurred on road, mostly on a side road.

Table 9: Location of cycle accident

Note: percentages add to greater than 100% as cyclists coded more than one location

A third of all cycling casualties (34%) excluding those who were solely on the pavement occurred on-road. Whilst pavements are by definition part of the road in STATS19, it is within the on-road sample that we might expect to find matches with the data collected by the police.

The greater proportion of on-road accidents occurred on a side road representing 45% of all on-road accidents reporting to hospitals.

Some 16% of those who were on-road at the time of their accident had been in a cycle lane.

The profile of male and female casualties is broadly similar in terms of where the accident took place with similar proportions on and off road. There was however a significantly greater proportion of males whose accidents occurred on a cycle track or forest track ( 26% compared to 16%) and correspondingly, a higher proportion of females who had their accident on the pavement (33% compared to 28%).

An examination of where the accident took place by the age of the casualty reveals significant differences between children and adults.

Children were much more likely than adults to sustain an injury whilst cycling on the pavement. Forty-three per cent of all childhood cycling accidents recorded in this study happened on the pavement compared to only 12% of the adult accidents.

Adults, by contrast, were more likely to have off road accidents which, excluding pavements, accounted for half of all adult accidents compared to just over a third of the children's accidents. This was accounted for by adults having accidents on cycle tracks or forest tracks or mountain bike trails. Taking these two categories together they accounted for 39% of all the adult accidents in this study whilst this location accounted for only 10% of the children's accidents.

Table 10 : Location of accident by age

Note: percentages add to greater than 100% as cyclists coded more than one location

Children were less likely than adults to have an accident on the road ( 30% compared to 40%) but the more significant difference is that children were very unlikely to have accidents on the main road which accounted for only 3% of all childhood accidents compared to 24% of the adult accidents. By contrast children were more likely to have their accidents on side roads ( 20% compared to 10%).

The greatest difference between weekdays and weekend lies in the proportion of accidents occurring off road. On a weekday the proportion of off road accidents is about a third (34%) but this rises at the weekend to 56% when there is greater opportunity for leisure activity. Cycle or mountain tracks account for most of this difference. At the weekend they account for 42% of all cycling accidents whilst on a weekday this drops to 16%. This off road cycling is primarily found amongst the adult population.

By contrast the proportion of accidents on main roads, again primarily an adult issue, is much greater on weekdays than at weekends which suggests that it is related to journeys for purposes such as getting to work or place of education.

Accidents on the pavements are more likely to occur on weekdays than on weekends (34% compared to 21%).

Table 11 : Location of accident by weekday / weekend

Note: percentages add to greater than 100% as cyclists coded more than one location

Accidents on the pavement tend to drop proportionally in the winter months presumably as fewer children are out playing. Off road accidents also drop and this again seems to be due to fewer children out playing as the locations which drop are parks and gardens. There is however no clear seasonal variation to accidents on cycle tracks.

Twenty-seven per cent of all accidents in the winter occur on main roads compared to an average of 13% across the year.

Table 12: Location of accident by season

Note: percentages add to greater than 100% as cyclists coded more than one location

Respondents were asked to indicate if the accident took place within a town or city, within a village or in a rural location which was defined by the absence of street lights.

Figure 8: Cycling accident by town or country

Nearly half (49%) of all accidents take place within a town or a city. Whilst nearly a fifth (19%) of all accidents take place within a rural setting, it should be noted that 76% of these were off road accidents and are primarily attributable to accidents which occurred on cycle tracks. Together cycle tracks and forest trails accounted for 61% of all of the accidents within a rural environment.

Accidents on the pavement were more common in villages where 43% of all accidents were on the pavement compared to 36% within a town or city setting.

There were notably more accidents on roads within the town / city than in other areas, accounting for nearly half of all accidents (47%) in that environment compared to 38% within villages and only 20% within a rural setting.

An attempt was made to analyse the data by post code of the location of the accident. This depended on respondents providing a location for which a post code or at least the post code at district level could be determined. The full table of accidents by post code is appended to this report. ( Appendix 3)

The centre of Edinburgh shows a high proportion of accidents compared to the number of residents. This is likely to be accounted for by the high numbers of people coming into the town centre or might genuinely reflect some of the problems of cycling in a historic town centre such as cobbles and close proximity to other vehicles. Other areas which show a high level of accidents are Bonnyrigg, Craigmillar, Gorebridge and Livingston.

By far the greatest number of accidents in relation to population occurs in Innerleithen. There is a forest trail which is popular with mountain bikers at Glentress forest near Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders. A very large number of cycle accidents occur because of this activity. Whilst some participants in the survey noted that their accident had occurred in Glentress forest , others simply said Innerleithen and the very high number in this town is likely to be attributable to this factor. Some 59 casualties reported to hospital as a result of accidents at Glentress and a further 18 were reported simply as Innerleithen.

Summary of main findings

• The greatest proportion of accidents occur off road (41%). A very high proportion of these off road accidents are on cycle tracks, forest tracks or mountain bike trails (57%).
• Twenty-nine per cent of all accidents occurred on the pavement. Nearly one in five of those whose accident was reported as being on the pavement also reported their accident as being on the road suggesting it was at the edge of the pavement or road.
• A third of all cycling casualties had their accident on the road itself. Sixteen per cent of those who were on the road said they were in a cycle lane at the time of their accident.
• Children were more likely than adults to have their accident on the pavement (43% compared to 12%).
• Adults were more likely than children to have their accidents off road. Off road accidents accounted for half of all adult accidents but only a third of children's accidents. This was attributable to increased cycling on cycle tracks and forest tracks by adults.
• Children were less likely than adults to have an accident on the road itself but most noticeably on main roads which accounted for only 3% of children's accidents but 24% of adult accidents.
• Off road accidents over the weekend account for 56% of accidents compared to a weekday proportion of 34%.
• Nearly half of all accidents (49%) take place in a town or a city.
• Analysis by post code of accident location shows that Edinburgh City centre exhibits a high number of accidents per head of population as do Bonnyrigg, Craigmillar, Gorebridge and Livingston. Innerleithen where the Glentress mountain bike centre is based shows the highest number of casualties compared to population and this is attributed to visitors to the centre.

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