SAFECYCLE

Bicycle fatalities make up 6.5% of the total number of road accident fatalities (EU-23 countries, 2008). This percentage is slightly decreasing since 2000. Apart from general factors (e.g. speed and weight of motorised vehicles, lack of protection of cyclists), the main factors for accidents of cyclists are lack of visibility, lack of vehicle control and alcohol consumption. Data from Europe suggests that countries that have invested the most in cycling tend to have the highest rates of cycling and also the lowest rates of cycling mortality, expressed as ‘risk in fatalities per billion cycling kilometres’. Due to higher number of bicycle trips and kilometres cycled, cyclists are perceived and expected in traffic, which makes their coexistence with other road users mutually smoother and accidents are reduced.

There are many traditional ways to reduce the risk of cycling accidents, such as building separate cycling infrastructure, increasing the visibility of cyclists and reducing the speed of cars where cyclists and cars share the same road.

The SAFECYCLE project, which is co-funded by the European Commission – DG MOVE, is taking a different and much more innovative approach. The SAFECYCLE project will investigate how ICT can be used to increase the safety of cyclists.