A little more than one in three serious bicycle accidents is linked to failure to respect the right of way, both on the part of the cyclist and the other road user. In these accidents, motorists and cyclists are responsible in similar proportions. Faulty infrastructure is the cause of a quarter of accidents. This is what emerges from an in-depth study carried out by the Vias Institute, based on 120 reports of accidents in which a cyclist was killed or seriously injured.
Four types of accidents are the most frequent: the cyclist does not respect the right of way (19% of cases), a vehicle collides with the cyclist after crossing the cycle infrastructure (15%), the cyclist falls on an obstacle (15%), the cyclist is denied priority or does not have enough space (15%).
Responsibilities are shared between cyclists and other road users, according to the results of this study carried out at the request of MOW, the department of mobility and public works in Flanders. In a third of the accidents studied (35%), the accident was due to an error by the cyclist. The behavior of the other user is the cause of the accident in another third of cases (31%).
We can speak of a shared responsibility of the parties involved in 15% of accidents. The road manager can be held responsible for the accident in 18% of cases.
Note that 65% of accidents are caused by a human factor, most often a poor assessment of the danger.
Last year, there were 10,735 accidents officially involving a cyclist in Belgium, an increase of 6% compared to the period before Covid. The number of deaths also increased, from 90 in 2019 to 96, the highest level ever reached.
