Cyclists face increased injury risk
Deborah Gough
The Age, Melbourne AUS, September 26, 2010

<photo caption: Trevor Abbott now only cycles on bike paths after being seriously injured in a collision with a truck on Beach Road. >


INJURIES to cyclists have more than doubled in eight years, with cyclists now 34 times more likely than an occupant of a car to be seriously injured, new research shows.

The study, published in the Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety, found that serious cycling injuries reported by police had increased by 109 per cent from 2000 to 2008.

The paper's co-author, Deakin University senior lecturer Dr Jan Garrard, said police figures also showed an extraordinary 13-fold increased risk of serious injury for cyclists over car users, based on the average distances travelled by cars and bicycles.

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