Current Safety-Critical Scenarios for Car-to-Cyclist crashes in the EU

At the heart of Vision Zero, taking the 'Safe Systems Approach' means that identifying the causal factors in crashes goes beyond the mistakes and errors made by road users, to consider systemic factors such as how infrastructure, the environment and different road user needs may interact to make crashes more likely.

SAFE-UP researchers have produced new in-depth analyses on the characteristics of the most common injury- or death-producing 'Safety-Critical Scenarios' between drivers and cyclists in the EU.

This new infographic relays some of the project's findings on where these crashes happen with respect to road layouts and infrastructure.

Crashes between drivers and cyclists happen almost always at or near intersections. The majority of all injury-producing crashes happen where the cyclist is crossing the path of the motorist. Less than a quarter occur where the driver turns off into a street the cyclist is crossing. The infographic shows that crashes happen somewhat more often when the cyclist is crossing from the driver’s right side. 'Safety-Critical Scenarios' involving motorists and cyclists travelling along the same road on roughly parallel paths make up less than 20% of all injuries and fatal crashes.

You can check out more insights on the SAFE-UP website here.