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Shinar D, Valero-Mora P, van Strijp-Houtenbos M, Haworth N, Schramm A, De Bruyne G, Cavallo V, Chliaoutakis J, Dias J, Ferraro OE, Fyhri A, Sajatovic AH, Kuklane K, Ledesma R, Mascarell O, Morandi A, Muser M, Otte D, Papadakaki M, Sanmartín J, Dulf D, Saplioglu M, Tzamalouka G. Under-reporting bicycle accidents to police in the COST TU1101 international survey: Cross-country comparisons and associated factors. Accid Anal Prev 2018; 110:177-186. [PMID: 29102034 DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2017.09.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2016] [Revised: 07/16/2017] [Accepted: 09/21/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Police crash reports are often the main source for official data in many countries. However, with the exception of fatal crashes, crashes are often underreported in a biased manner. Consequently, the countermeasures adopted according to them may be inefficient. In the case of bicycle crashes, this bias is most acute and it probably varies across countries, with some of them being more prone to reporting accidents to police than others. Assessing if this bias occurs and the size of it can be of great importance for evaluating the risks associated with bicycling. This study utilized data collected in the COST TU1101 action "Towards safer bicycling through optimization of bicycle helmets and usage". The data came from an online survey that included questions related to bicyclists' attitudes, behaviour, cycling habits, accidents, and patterns of use of helmets. The survey was filled by 8655 bicyclists from 30 different countries. After applying various exclusion factors, 7015 questionnaires filled by adult cyclists from 17 countries, each with at least 100 valid responses, remained in our sample. The results showed that across all countries, an average of only 10% of all crashes were reported to the police, with a wide range among countries: from a minimum of 0.0% (Israel) and 2.6% (Croatia) to a maximum of a 35.0% (Germany). Some factors associated with the reporting levels were type of crash, type of vehicle involved, and injury severity. No relation was found between the likelihood of reporting and the cyclist's gender, age, educational level, marital status, being a parent, use of helmet, and type of bicycle. The significant under-reporting - including injury crashes that do not lead to hospitalization - justifies the use of self-report survey data for assessment of bicycling crash patterns as they relate to (1) crash risk issues such as location, infrastructure, cyclists' characteristics, and use of helmet and (2) strategic approaches to bicycle crash prevention and injury reduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Shinar
- Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
| | - P Valero-Mora
- Instituto de Tráfico y Seguridad Vial, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
| | | | - N Haworth
- Queensland University of Technology, Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety, Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
| | - A Schramm
- Queensland University of Technology, Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety, Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
| | - Guido De Bruyne
- Department of Product Development, Faculty of Design Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
| | | | - J Chliaoutakis
- Dept. Of Social Work, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Greece.
| | - J Dias
- Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - O E Ferraro
- Centre of Study and Research on Road Safety, Dept. Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Italy.
| | - A Fyhri
- Institute of Transport Economics, Oslo, Norway.
| | - A Hursa Sajatovic
- University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb, HR, Croatia.
| | | | - R Ledesma
- CONICET/U of Mar del Plata, Argentina.
| | - O Mascarell
- Instituto de Tráfico y Seguridad Vial, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
| | - A Morandi
- Centre of Study and Research on Road Safety, Dept. Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Italy.
| | - M Muser
- Working Group on Accident Mechanics, Zurich, CH, Switzerland.
| | - D Otte
- Accident Research Unit, Medical School Hannover, Germany.
| | - M Papadakaki
- Lab. Of Health and Road Safety, Dpt. Of Social Work, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Greece.
| | - J Sanmartín
- Instituto de Tráfico y Seguridad Vial, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
| | - D Dulf
- Cluj School of Public Health, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania.
| | - M Saplioglu
- Dept. Civil Engineering, Süleyman Demirel University, Turkey.
| | - G Tzamalouka
- Dept. Of Social Work, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Greece.
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