Cyclists in Auckland have a higher risk of being involved in a crash with a motor vehicle than cyclists from other parts of the country. This is despite – and possibly because of – the region having the lowest level of bicycle use relative to car use. Identifying factors that can help improve the conditions cyclists’ face and overcome barriers to active travel nationally was a key focus of the recently completed Taupo Bicycle Study.
In 2009, University of Auckland researcher Dr Sandar Tin Tin began a HRC-funded project to investigate the injury risks and cycling behaviour of a large group of cyclists recruited from the Taupo Cycle Challenge, New Zealand’s largest mass cycling event, in 2006. The 2590 cyclists who participated in this baseline Taupo Bicycle Study came from throughout New Zealand, although most were from the North Island.
With the support of her supervisors, Professors Shanthi Ameratunga and Alistair Woodward, Dr Tin Tin set about following up with participants from the baseline Taupo Bicycle Study, resurveying them through a web questionnaire. Participants’ data were then linked to data from four national databases, including police reports, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) claims database, hospital discharges, and mortality records.
Dr Tin Tin says they found that aids designed to increase cyclists’ physical conspicuity (i.e. visibility) – such as fluorescent clothing, lights, and reflective materials – were not sufficient to prevent bicycle crashes involving a motor vehicle, particularly in Auckland where bicycle use is low compared to car use. More important for cyclists’ safety on the road was the visibility of cyclists based on motor vehicle drivers’ interests and experience or ‘attention conspicuity’.
“We may be able to improve attention conspicuity by creating a more balanced transport mix,” says Dr Tin Tin. “The ‘safety in numbers’ effect suggests that if more people cycle and less drive, cyclists will be safer as drivers are more likely to pay attention to the presence of cyclists.”
Although Dr Tin Tin points out that the Auckland study participants had different cycle characteristics than those cyclists from other regions (e.g. the Auckland cyclists were less likely to cycle off-road, but more likely to cycle in the dark and in a bunch), she says these factors only explain half of their higher crash risk. The other half is likely to be due to the car-dominated transport environment.
“Our findings suggest that New Zealand has been caught in a vicious circle in the past two decades, where a lower proportion of cyclists on the road decreases their conspicuity and poses them a higher crash risk, which in turn discourages bicycle use,” says Dr Tin Tin.
Curiously, although cyclists may feel more visible, and hence safer, riding in a bunch, the study found that bunch riding may actually be associated with a higher crash risk.
Other on-road injury risk factors identified included being over 35 years old, living in urban areas or in the Auckland region, using a road bike, and having had a history of a crash.
Over the study follow-up period, the Taupo Bicycle Study participants had 116 crashes that came to the attention of medical personnel or police per 1000 people per year, of which 66 occurred on the road and 10 involved a collision with a motor vehicle2. This correlates to 240 crashes and 38 collisions per million hours spent cycling on the road – similar to figures from Australia and the US, but much higher than European countries.
“Although the latest census shows that there has been a 16 per cent increase in bicycle commuting from 2006, bicycling still only makes up a small fraction of all trips in New Zealand. I hope that the outcomes from this study will help shape strategies to promote travel-related physical activity and improve road safety in New Zealand,” says Dr Tin Tin.