Failure to respect the right of way plays a role in a third of serious bicycle accidents, while in these accidents, motorists and cyclists are responsible in approximately equal proportions. Faulty infrastructure plays a role in 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
A little more than one accident in three was linked to failure to respect the right of way, both on the part of the cyclist and the other road user. “An important factor in these accidents is the obstruction of the view, for example by infrastructure, plantations, other vehicles and weather conditions (low sun). Perception defects are also common. This concerns in particular the fact of not noticing the cyclist, but also the fact that the cyclist crosses without looking,” Vias specifies in a press release.
The 4 most common types of accidents
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 refused 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, which is most often a poor estimate of the danger.
The lack of infrastructure is one of the main factors causing accidents, according to the authors of the study who also looked at 80 places where a serious or fatal accident occurred.
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.
“This increase is obviously linked to the growing number of cyclists on the roads but it is important to understand the causes of these accidents to try to stop this trend,” says Vias.
The in-depth analysis of accidents shows that improving the safety of cyclists is a shared responsibility between road managers (Regions and municipalities) and users. “Road managers must ensure that cycling infrastructure is of good quality and recognizable, with sufficient space for cyclists, whose numbers are constantly growing. That said, human factors play an even more frequent role in cyclist accidents. All users must therefore respect the highway code and demonstrate mutual understanding,” concludes Vias.
