Official statistics underestimate cycling accidents, figures suggest

There is a disconnect between data on cycling injuries compiled by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and those recorded at a busy hospital emergency department, it has emerged.

A study published in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal examined cycling-related injuries managed by the emergency department at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin. There were 534 patients with a cycling-related injury seen at the hospital over a 12-month period in 2014.

Seven out of 10 patients (71%) were male, and the average age was 36 years. Twenty-two patients (4%) were aged between 14 and 18 years, and 21 over the age of 65. There were 79 patients (14.8%) who came to the hospital following a collision with a car or other vehicle. 42 (8%) had collided with a pedestrian while 17 (3%) had collided with another cyclist.