A new study published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention has found that not only do segregated cycle lanes encourage more cycling and decrease the risk of collision for those who do so, they also reduce the chances of collisions in nearby areas where there are no cycle lanes.
Canadian Cycling Magazine reports that researchers looked at the number of cyclist-motor vehicle collisions in areas of Toronto where segregated lanes had been added.
While they found a twofold increase in the number of collisions after cycle lanes had been put in, after accounting for the resultant increase in cycling volumes stemming from the cycle lane’s presence, this actually amounted to a 38 per cent reduction in the collision rate.
They also found that on streets that were between 151m and 550 m from the new cycle lanes, there was a 35 per cent reduction in collision rates.
The researchers termed this a ‘safety halo effect’.
It may well be that the impact is to a great extent down to an increase in the number of cyclists with a number of studies indicating that there is indeed such a thing as safety in numbers.
It is thought it is partly because riders become more ‘visible’ to drivers, and also because drivers are more likely to be cyclists themselves.
A 20-year study, completed in 2017, concluded that the growing number of cyclists on New York streets was a likely contributor to improvements in cycling safety.
The New York Department of Transport’s research indicated that the number of cycling trips in the city rose from 51m a year in 1996-2000 to 134m a year in 2011-2015.
The latter period saw an average of 12.8 cyclist fatalities per 100 million bicycle trips, compared to 44.2 cyclist fatalities per 100 million trips between 1996 and 2000 – a decline of 71 per cent.
The same study found that there was a drop in the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured in areas covered by the city’s bike-share scheme.
Whose argument am I distorting there? Did you or did you not say that helmets "must cause deaths" (I'm sure I can dredge up the comment and quote...
Forget lights and navigation. Added to that, it's too bloody large and will affect steering when packed. Don't see a reasonable use-case.
I've never read anything written by Clarkson and have no eperience with chatgtp or its ilk but the style resembles a writing effort by a 13 year...
I'm drooling over those extra large runtimes and solar charging. Could really use those on my multi day long-distance forays, it would save the...
I have alao noticed that and pollitics seems to be the cause quite often.
Presumably they're ones that escaped from earlier experiments?...
I don't know about this. It's not exactly a Swiss watch of mechanical complexity. It's less design copying than it is the minimum structural...
Ghost-bikes in prominent places are a London 'favourite' since no human is at additional risk and there's plenty of time for the stationary traffic...
How about air bags on the outside, but not on the inside?
Could be. They've also splashed out and repainted some give way markings where redways cross roads, some at junctions where cyclists often don't....