Crash characteristics: where and how?

• Age groups most involved in fatal crashes
• Collision partners
• Contributory factors
• Crossing facilities
• Data considerations
• General trends in number of fatalities
• Road types
• Share of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities

Crash characteristics: where and how?

The trends for the number of fatalities among pedestrians and cyclists in Europe show that since 1980 both numbers have decreased by about 65 and 55% respectively. However, of all traffic fatalities, the proportion of pedestrian fatalities is still about 17%, and the proportion of cyclist fatalities is about 6%. Age groups that have the highest percentage of pedestrian fatalities are children younger than 10 years of age and adults aged 65 years or older. Cyclist fatalities have the highest share among children between 6 and 14 years of age. The percentages for these age groups are about twice as high as the average percentages for all age groups. The following sections contain information about the circumstances in which pedestrian and cyclist crashes take place. However, the chapter starts with some data considerations: what crashes are considered to be traffic-related, and how well are they reported in the police crash statistics.