This report was produced 24-02-2014 and is based on the “stats19” police records of crashes, where the police either attended the scene of the crash or someone involved reported it to the police at a later date. The police do not attend all crashes and there is no legal requirement to report accidents (personal injury or otherwise) if details are exchanged by those involved at the scene.
This report extracts data from the 2960 cyclist casualties in Surrey that occurred between 01-01-2008 and 31-10-2013.
Within this period there have been 280 cyclist casualties in Mole Valley, which is 9.5% of the County total. The casualties in Mole Valley occurred between 16-01-2008 and 26-10-2013.
The following definitions are from DfT Notes and Definitions pdf file
Serious injury: An injury for which a person is detained in hospital as an “in-patient”, or any of the following injuries whether or not they are detained in hospital: fractures, concussion, internal injuries, crushings, burns (excluding friction burns), severe cuts, severe general shock requiring medical treatment and injuries causing death 30 or more days after the accident.
Slight injury: An injury of a minor character such as a sprain (including neck whiplash injury), bruise or cut which are not judged to be severe, or slight shock requiring roadside attention. This definition includes injuries not requiring medical treatment.
An injured casualty is recorded as seriously or slightly injured by the police on the basis of information available within a short time of the accident. This generally will not reflect the results of a medical examination, but may be influenced according to whether the casualty is hospitalised or not. Hospitalisation procedures will vary regionally.
Cyclist casualties by year and severity
| CasualtySeverity | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fatal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Serious | 10 | 6 | 11 | 18 | 12 | 21 |
| 3 | Slight | 28 | 25 | 32 | 35 | 43 | 37 |
Of casualties of all ages, 85% are male.
Please note the low numbers on the y-axis for the 'by day of week and time of day' chart, as this analysis breaks down the total number of casualties in detail.
Urban areas are those defined by Ordnance Survey in their 'Meridian 2' dataset (the 'developed land use area'). Overall in Mole Valley:
Split between urban and rural casualties
| Number of Casualties | Urban or Rural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 129 | Rural |
| 2 | 151 | Urban |
Distance from home is measured 'as the crow flies' between the crash grid reference and a grid reference derived from the casualty's home postcode. The latter is not recorded in all stats19 records.
The following table shows the distance from home of each casualty in Mole Valley, along with the age and class of road where the crash occurred:
Of the 251 instances in Mole Valley where distance from home was recorded, in 206 cases casualties were within 5km of their home. The number by class of road is shown below:
| Number of Casualties | Road Class | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | A |
| 2 | 30 | B |
| 3 | 54 | C |
| 4 | 96 | D |
'Collision type' is not part of the police's stats19 form. Instead, the collision types have been derived from the description of each crash that does form part of the stats19 records. So, for example, the description, “Cyclist pulled his front brake too hard this caused him to fall off resulting in his injury” has been put in the category,“no other road user involved or collided with cycling companion”. The description, “V1 approached roundabout and stopped. Believing it to be clear V1 pulled onto roundabout and as got to left side was blinded by sun. V2 cyclist already cycling round roundabout hit V1 wing mirror making him fall off and hit the road” has been put in the category, “vehicle emerges from 'give way' junction or private access into path of cyclist”.
Although quite often there is not enough detail in the crash description to enable further classification, there is enough to be informative:
| number of casualties | Collision sub-type | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | insufficient detail in description |
| 2 | 14 | collided with cycling companion |
| 3 | 9 | lost control at speed or whilst braking |
| 4 | 9 | road surface irregularity |
| 5 | 8 | slippery surface (leaves, ice, debris) |
| 6 | 5 | other |
| 7 | 4 | mechanical failure |
| 8 | 3 | collided with fixed object inc. kerb |
| 9 | 3 | medical episode |
| 10 | 2 | alcohol-impaired |
| 11 | 2 | foreign object caught in wheel |
| 12 | 1 | crossing between footway and carriageway |
Although quite often there is not enough detail in the crash description to enable further classification, there is enough to be informative:
| number of casualties | Collision sub-type | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | vehicle emerges from T-junction or crossroads |
| 2 | 19 | vehicle enters roundabout |
| 3 | 5 | cyclist on carriageway, vehicle emerges from private access |
| 4 | 2 | cyclist on footway or cycle path, vehicle emerges from drive |
Most cyclist casualties in Mole Valley occur in daylight:
| Number of Casualties | Day, Night and Streetlighting | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 93 | Day - No Street Lights |
| 2 | 85 | Day - Street Lights |
| 3 | 58 | Daylight |
| 4 | 16 | Dark - Street Lights - LIT |
| 5 | 11 | Day - Street Lights - unk |
| 6 | 10 | Dark - No Street Lights |
| 7 | 4 | Dark - Street Lights - unk |
| 8 | 1 | Dark - Street Lights - LIT |
| 9 | 1 | Dark - Street Lights - UNLIT |
| 10 | 1 | Dark - Street Lights -UNLIT |
As well as being in the light, most cyclist casualties occur in fine weather:
| Number of Casualties | Weather | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 239 | Fine (no high wind) |
| 2 | 22 | Raining (no high wind) |
| 3 | 11 | Unknown |
| 4 | 5 | Other weather |
| 5 | 3 | Raining with High Winds |
As the table below shows, in collisions resulting in cyclist casualties in Mole Valley, cars are most often the other vehicle. 'No vehicle or not recorded' includes the instances when there was no other vehicle involved.
| Number of casualties | Other vehicle in collision | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 171 | Car |
| 2 | 76 | no vehicle or not recorded |
| 3 | 16 | Pedal Cycle |
| 4 | 5 | Goods vehicle 3.5 tonnes maximum gross weight (mgw) and under |
| 5 | 5 | Van/Goods vehicle 3.5 tonnes maximum gross weight (mgw) and under |
| 6 | 2 | Goods vehicle 7.5 tonnes mgw and over |
| 7 | 2 | Other Motor Vehicle |
| 8 | 1 | Bus or coach (17 or more passenger seats) |
| 9 | 1 | Motorcycle over 500cc |
| 10 | 1 | Pedal Cycle - V3 Car - V4 Goods vehicle 3.5 tonnes maximum gross weight (mgw) and under |