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The ”Typical” Car-Cyclist Collision Under the Microscope: A GIDAS-Based Analysis of the Prevalent Crash Scenario

In a world where reducing the carbon footprint is crucial, riding carbon-neutral vehicles such as bicycles or pedelecs is a sustainable and thus desired way of transport. Since motorized and unmotorized bicycles are missing any protective body, their riders are part of the vulnerable road users (VRUs). In order to increase the attractivity of transport by bicycle and pedelec, providing traffic safety for this group must be ensured. To get a better understanding of cycle crashes, this paper’s objective is to deduce the most important crash types of collisions of cyclists with passenger cars. By obtaining the characteristic details of these crashes, strategies for crash avoidance can be derived. The data source used for the results presented in this paper is GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study). GIDAS is a unique database as the input data is provided by experts on crash reconstruction who join the police at the crash site and record the crash in great detail. 8497 relevant crashes involving bicycles, captured from 2000-2021, were evaluated. The methodology consists of the evaluation of the two most common crash types regarding speed distributions and contact points of the crash opponents, street layout, driver intent, traffic density, and visual conditions. The results show that the most common crashes are two crossing crash types accounting for nearly a third of all crashes between cyclists and drivers of motorized vehicles. Both of these crash types are characterized by the cyclist riding on the designated cycling infrastructure, while in the more common one, the cyclist goes against the expected direction for the crash opponent. For the selected crash types, the results also show that more than half of crashes occur at junctions, predominantly where the driver has to yield. Most crashes occur during turning right maneuvers at low traffic densities and speeds below 13 kph. The evaluation of the car driver’s maneuvers performed in the last second before the crash indicates a black spot in driving-off situations. In more than 70 % of the cases, the contact point with the cyclist is at the front. The data, analyzed in detail in the discussion, points towards the theory that drivers tend to ”fail to look” at cyclists coming from the right and ”look but fail to see” cyclists from the left. Furthermore, cyclists crossing from the right might not be expected in right-hand traffic. A general limitation of official crash data sources based on police reports is a high underreporting rate of bicycle crashes. Using the German crash database, also certain bias towards countries with similar traffic infrastructure must also be assumed. This is further analyzed in the discussion. The conclusions drawn from this study show that cycling infrastructure remains of the highest importance and needs to be designed in accordance with the human factor in traffic. Also, communication between involved parties can contribute largely to tackling the most dominating crossing crash types, i.e., virtually enhancing the cyclist’s visibility for other traffic participants.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Web
  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 16p
  • Monograph Title: 27th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV): Enhanced and Equitable Vehicle Safety for All: Toward the Next 50 Years

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01892759
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 23-0270
  • Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
  • Created Date: Sep 11 2023 11:42AM