Near-miss analysis provides insight into accident causes

Source: Fietsberaad

To assess the circumstances surrounding near-miss incidents involving cyclists, researchers from University College London (UCL) tasked 60 London cycling commuters with riding for two weeks with a GoPro camera.

The results revealed that most of the near-misses occurred on roads without cycling infrastructure and because motorists did not give enough space when passing.

Study rationale

Near-accidents are much more common than actual accidents which result in damage or injury. Analysis of these can therefore provide insight into the underlying causes of road safety and help prevent future accidents.

The study participants – 60 adults who cycle-commute in London – were given a helmet with a GoPro camera with a 360-degree output by researchers from UCL, to use as they commuted for two weeks. Every time they experienced a near-accident, the participants had to say “near-miss”. Using voice recognition, the researchers were then able to extract the correct images from the recordings based on the time of the incident. Recorded results included the road users involved, traffic density, the degree of mixed traffic, cycling infrastructure and road and intersection characteristics for each event.

Near-miss causes

In most near-misses, the participants were given too little space by passing motorists. This was followed by cases in which cyclists were cut off by motorists turning left or right, or leaving a parking space or side street. Most incidents occurred during the evening rush hour, with fewer in the morning. The speed of the cyclists was below 30 km/h prior to the incidents and usually involved a car. Most accidents occurred on roads without cycling infrastructure, although cutting-off was more common on separate cycle paths.

In total, the participating cyclists registered around a hundred near-misses, roughly one every three hours. Men recorded more incidents than women, especially those that involved passing with too little space but also when leaving parking spaces. They also often were riding faster when near-misses occurred. Women experienced more near-misses with pedestrians.

Assessing the risks

The researchers calculated the risk of an accident based on the number of near-misses per 100 kilometres. This analysis showed that the risk increased during the morning rush hour and when cycling for longer on 50 km/h roads. A higher cycling speed and longer cycling on shared infrastructure led to a lower risk. Participants who had not had a cycling accident in the previous year reported relatively fewer near-misses.

Researchers’ advice

Based on the results, the researchers advise policymakers to use campaigns to encourage motorists to give cyclists more space and to be careful when turning. They also advised that there should also be more cycling infrastructure so that people can cycle more safely, not only on busy streets but also in quieter residential areas, which some cyclists prefer to cycle through.