Relationships between self-reported bicycling injuries and perceived risk of cyclists in Queensland, Australia

Government focus on increasing active travel has motivated renewed interest in cycling safety. Because bicyclists are up to 20 times more likely to be involved in crashes with serious injury than are automobile drivers, an understanding of the relationships between risk factors for bicyclist crashes is necessary for identifying effective policy tools, for informing bicycle infrastructure investments, and for identifying high-risk bicycling contexts. A study was conducted to gain understanding of the complex relationships between bicyclist self-reported injuries resulting from crashes (e.g., hitting a car) and noncrashes (e.g., spraining an ankle) and perceived risk of cycling as a function of cyclist exposure, rider conspicuity, riding environment, rider risk aversion, and rider ability. Self-reported data from 2,500 Queensland, Australia, cyclists were used to estimate a series of seemingly unrelated regressions to examine the relationships between factors. The major findings suggest that perceived risk does not appear to influence injury rates, nor do injury rates influence perceived risks of cycling. Riders who perceived cycling as risky tended not to be commuters, did not engage in group riding, tended to always wear mandatory helmets and front lights, and lowered their perception of risk by increasing days per week of riding and by riding more on bicycle paths. Riders who always wore helmets had lower risk for crash injury. An increase in the number of riding days per week tended to decrease both crash injury and noncrash injury risk (e.g., a sprain). Further work is needed to replicate some of the study findings