Objective: The objectives of the present article were to (a) describe the main characteristics of bicycle crashes with regard to the road environment, crash opponent, cyclist, and crash dynamics; (b) compare individuals who describe their health after the crash as declined with those who describe their health as not affected; and (c) compare the number of injured cyclists who describe their health as declined after the crash with the predicted number of permanent medical impairments within the same population.

Methods: A sample of individuals with specific injury diagnoses was drawn from the Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition (STRADA) database (n = 2,678). A survey form was used to collect additional information about the crash and the health-related outcomes. The predicted number of impaired individuals was calculated by accumulating the risk for all individuals to sustain at least a 1% permanent medical impairment, based on the injured body region and injury severity.

Results: Nine hundred forty-seven individuals (36%) responded, of whom 44% reported declined health after the crash. The majority (68%) were injured in single bicycle crashes, 17% in collisions with motor vehicles, and 11% in collisions with another cyclist or pedestrian. Most single bicycle crashes related to loss of control (46%), mainly due to skidding on winter surface conditions (14%), followed by loss of control during braking (6%). There was no significant difference in crash distribution comparing all crashes with crashes among people with declined health. The predicted number of impaired individuals (n = 427) corresponded well with the number of individuals self-reporting declined health (n = 421).

Conclusions: The types of crashes leading to health loss do not substantially differ from those that do not result in health loss. Two thirds of injuries leading to health loss occur in single bicycle crashes. In addition to separating cyclists from motorized traffic, other preventive strategies are needed.

Objective: To reduce the number of severe injuries sustained by cyclists in crashes with vehicles, it is important to understand which kinds of injuries are occurring to identify what should be assessed by means of virtual testing.

Method: A detailed analysis of injuries was made based on Swedish and Dutch accident data. The most frequently injured body regions and the most frequent single injuries of these body regions were analysed.

Results: Cyclists most frequently injured their heads, upper and lower extremities, and bone fractures as well as brain injuries were identified as one of the most important injuries.

Conclusions: For the virtual assessment of cyclist protection, injury predictors for long bone, skull and pelvic fractures as well as brain injuries are required in Human Body Models.

Background In recent years, bicycle injuries have increased, yet little is known about the impact of such injures on sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP). The aim was to explore SA and DP among individuals of working ages injured in a bicycle crash.

Method A nationwide register-based study, including all individuals aged 16-64years and living in Sweden, who in 2010 had in- or specialized out-patient healthcare (including emergency units) after a bicycle crash. Information on age, sex, sociodemographics, SA, DP, crash type, injury type, and injured body region was used. We analyzed individuals with no SA or DP, with ongoing SA or full-time DP already at the time of the crash, and with new SA >14days in connection to the crash. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals for new SA were estimated by logistic regression.

Results In total, 7643 individuals had healthcare due to a new bicycle crash (of which 85% were single-bicycle crashes). Among all, 10% were already on SA or full-time DP at the time of the crash, while 18% had a new SA spell. The most common types of injuries were external injuries (38%) and fractures (37%). The body region most frequently injured was the upper extremities (43%). Women had higher OR (1.40; 1.23-1.58) for new SA than men, as did older individuals compared with younger (OR 2.50; 2.02-3.09, for ages: 55-64 vs. 25-34). The injury types with the highest ORs for new SA, compared with the reference group external injuries was fractures (8.04; 6.62-9.77) and internal injuries (7.34; 3.67-14.66). Individuals with traumatic brain injury and injuries to the vertebral column and spinal cord had higher ORs for SA compared with other head, face, and neck injuries (2.72; 1.19-6.22 and 3.53; 2.24-5.55, respectively).

Conclusions In this explorative nationwide study of new bicycle crashes among individuals of working ages, 18% had a new SA spell in connection to the crash while 10% were already on SA or DP. The ORs for new SA were higher among women, older individuals, and among individuals with a fracture.

Background: On public transport buses, standing passengers are subject to acceleration and braking driver manoeuvres which may lead to a falling event.

Purpose and procedures: This study investigates the characteristics of such events connected to driver manoeuvres (i.e., acceleration or braking), passenger conditions (i.e., boarding, travelling, alighting), and injury severity. The data for analyses comprise three and a half years (2015–2018). All passengers were standing at the time of the fall event and were treated at hospital emergency departments (ED) after the falling event.

Findings: The results highlight aspects which may need further attention. For example, the involvement of females is not only high for the 65 ​+ ​age group, this is also the case for younger age groups which indicates that acceleration/deceleration threshold values for sustaining balance may differ by gender. Furthermore, driver manoeuvres and passenger conditions are important characteristics impacting the mechanisms of falling differently. In acceleration manoeuvres, older passengers (aged 65+) are most often involved in a fall inmediately after boarding, whereas falls during braking manoeuvres are most common while travelling, and mostly involving the 25-64 years-old age group.

Conclusions: These findings may indicate that acceleration and braking manoeuvres should be studied separately. It is worth noting that driving style might influence the risk of losing balance for standing passengers, and shortening the time to get seated can be beneficial for reducing the risk of falling, especially for the elderly users after boarding the bus.