While researching the dangers of cyclepaths, I came across this article
on the German site "Danger! Cyclepath!" (http://www.radweg.mine.nu),
and thought it might be of some interest:
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Promptly at the start of the non-winter cycling season, the press warms
up the year-round-distributed fairy tales, that damages the image of
the cyclist and, eventually, the quality of life of the town...
Quoted message said:From a report of RTAs in the Wochenblatt (Regensburger local paper),
edition 15/2005:
"Remarkable is the proportion of cyclists amongst the injured. They
score 204, thus almost a quarter of the injured and 44 per cent of the
severely injured people, although they only represent seven percent of
people involved in accident. It is characteristic that cyclists caused
59 percent of the accidents."
About the injured
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The figures refers to accidents in the city. Naturally, at the low
speeds, the drivers are optimally protected. At the same time the
bicycle traffic proportion is relatively higher in the city. So seen,
it is incredible that the drivers and pedestrians in the city can so
frequently (56%) manage to get seriously injured.
About the accident participation
--------------------------------
The average weekly paper reader now has the opinion that cyclists are
resonsible for 59% of the accidents. Thus the image develops of the
cyclist as a traffic-rowdy. Some readers may even feel that the bad
cyclists should be taught a lesson, even charged with criminal
offences.
Now to put the numbers into perspective: Cyclists are involved in only
7% of all accidents, and within this 7%, are the cause of 59%, that
is, only 4% of all accidents. That is naturally not a new-worthy
figure for the weekly paper. As to the 59%, this proportion is not
exceptional: in accidents just between cyclists, the one who caused the
accident is naturally always a cyclist, likewise in single-cycle
accidents. In the remaining cases, bicycle against another road user,
the 59% overall figure suggest that cyclists are less often the cause
of bicycle/car accidents, on the assumption that at least 10% of
accidents fall in the bicycle/bicylce catgegory (that this is the case
is suggested in the police quote below).
Then the police spokesman acknowledges (inadvertently) the dangers of
cycle tracks:
"The causes (of bicyle accidents) are usually 'ghost riders' (*),
followed by cars driven under influence of alcohol. The place of the
most accidents in the city is the range
Nordgaustrasse-Frankenstrasse-Walhalla avenue with 32 collisions. In
second place the southern axis with
Friedenstrasse-Furtmayrstrasse-Galgenbergstrasse follows, with 18
accidents."
Ghost riders: Where please, except on cycle tracks, does a cyclist dare
to ride on the wrong side of the road (or even comes to the idea)?
Cycle tracks promote accident-causing errors! The points of most
frequent accidents specified above are four-lane main roads with
complete cycle tracks - which is to protect the cyclist allegedly.
Summary
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Cyclists cause 4% of all accidents in the city of Regensburg. Roads
with so-called "good cycle tracks" are the places of most accidents.
Newspaper articles of this kind reduce the respect for the cyclist
(which is certainly not helpful to security).
(*) 'Geisterradler', from 'Geisterfahrer' (Ghost-driver): someone
driving the wrong way down a one-way-street or motorway: as in the old
joke: "theres this fella driving down the motorway, when a report
comes on the radio to watch out for a ghost-driver on the A8 east-bound
carriageway. 'One?' says the driver, 'there's [censored] hundreds of
'em!'"