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Quality and Quantity
BikePortland reports on an upcoming study on injuries to bicycle commuters. The study finds that road conditions contributed to 20 percent of “traumatic events.” Great to see some data on this intuitive point.
Here’s an excerpt, but read the whole post:
The study found that, “There were no differences in age, gender, safety practices and experience levels between commuters who experienced a TE [traumatic event] and those who did not.”
“One finding I thought was interesting,” said Hoffman, “is that poor roadway surface conditions played a role in 20 percent of the traumatic events — gravel on the road, rail tracks on the road, steel plates in the road, and so on… led to these events.”
Darren Flusche
League Policy Director
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
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February 14th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
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February 17th, 2010 at 11:54 am
4 1/2 years ago I experienced a”traumatic event”. I cycled 3 miles each way to work until retiring this last December. It involved cycling past a large strip mall. On a rainy day at the end of July cycling home with my neon yellow cycling poncho on, I was broadsided by an SUV. It happened at the light controlled entrance to the mall parking lot on the east side of the thoroughfare. I had decided (foolishly) to use the sidewalk on the east side of the street to head south past the mall. As I approached the intersection/mall entrance slowing down, the light turned green for me. I looked to my left and saw what I thought was eye contact with the SUV driver then coming to a stop before making a right turn on red. On the basis of the eye contact I proceeded. Unfortunately so did the SUV. The impact separated me from the bike sending me flying through the air to the southwest. The impact knocked me out after the thought “so this is how it ends” rushed through my mind. The landing brought me back awake. I landed in the intersection more or less flat on my face ~ 15-20′ southwest of impact, eyeglasses jammed off and a seriously smashed left forehead area on my helmet. After flexing various body parts to see if I was really alive I got up and walked over to the curb and sat down, bleeding from the scrape the glasses left. Miraculously my bones were all more or less intact. It amazed me, the moment of joy I felt on awaking after expecting to be killed. Then the pain started from the various bruises and scrapes. The worst was the days of back spasms that followed. I have had a couple of issues crop up with herniated l4-l5 disk and the shoulders over the years since that required PT to correct, the former being the most serious involving severe right leg spasms and other local issues. PT and a steroid epidural injection solved those.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Woops I thought I was starting a string, sorry.