Technical Paper
Association of Impact Velocity with Serious-Injury and Fatality Risks to Cyclists in Commercial Truck-Cyclist Accidents
2017-11-13
2017-22-0013
This study aimed to clarify the relationship between truck–cyclist collision impact velocity and the serious-injury and fatality risks to cyclists, and to investigate the effects of road type and driving scenario on the frequency of cyclist fatalities due to collisions with vehicles. We used micro and macro truck–cyclist collision data from the Japanese Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA) database. We classified vehicle type into five categories: heavy-duty trucks (gross vehicle weight [GVW] ≥11 × 103 kg [11 tons (t)], medium-duty trucks (5 × 103 kg [5 t] ≤ GVW < 11 × 103 kg [11 t]), light-duty trucks (GVW <5 × 103 kg [5 t]), box vans, and sedans. The fatality risk was ≤5% for light-duty trucks, box vans, and sedans at impact velocities ≤40 km/h and for medium-duty trucks at impact velocities ≤30 km/h. The fatality risk was 6% for heavy-duty trucks at impact velocities ≤10 km/h.