Pedal cycle injuries in NSW: A comparison of data sources

Road & Transport Research, Dec 2003 by Voukelatos, Alex, Rissel, Chris, Campbell, Fiona

These large discrepancies illustrate how Iitue is known about the conditions in which pedal cyclists sustain injuries. The higher pedal cycle injury rates reported by the ISC data are to some extent accounted for by younger children. Accidents involving young children may not involve motor vehicles, but suggest that safe environments for children to ride their bicycles could be improved.Theimpactofroadorfootpath conditions is unknown. As so little is known as to the causes of pedal cycle accidents, further research into the specific causes of pedal cycle crashes is required, (for example, road or footpath condition, cyclist behaviour, driver behaviour or some other factor) to identify priorities for attention.

While the worst case scenario that the RTA overreport motor-vehicle injuries and under-report pedal cycle injuries is striking, there are limitations of the data and analyses we have performed. For example, ISC and RTA age categories do not align perfectly, and the time periods covered by the data sets do not completely coincide. Further, the exact ICD E-codes we have applied to the ISC data may not exactly represent the greatly different levels of road conditions. Coding of ISC data for ?-codes may not be perfectly recorded for all motor vehicle and pedal cycle crashes. There is also the possibility of the hospital data counting the same person on more than one occasion if treated at several different times even if for the same injury (Langley, Stephenson, Cryer & Borman 2002). However, these potential weaknesses are unlikely to alter the main conclusion.

Published RTA data also has some limitations. These include the reliance on police recording of accurate information at the crash site, and the difficulty for police of incomplete reporting to police of pedal cycle crashes and their severity.

As there is such variation in NSW, it is probable that similar discrepancies occur in other states. There should be more transparency around the analysis of RTA data and of data collections held by similar authorities in other states, and it would be desirable to see a consistent national data system established so comparisonsbetween states could readily be made. In NSW there clearly needs to be a greater allocation of resou rces to reduce pedal cycle injuries, and review of black-spot funding programs to take into account risks to pedal cycles. It may be worth using hospital statistics for reporting injury rates for pedal cycles (despite its limitations), rather than relying on police data, which may be incomplete.

REFERENCES

BELLEW B., DOBINSON K., FRITH J., HENDERSON M., MCKERRAL ]., MASON C., NAPIER I. & RISSEL C. (2002). Healthy Transport, Healthy People. Sustainable Transport in Sustainable Cities, Warren Centre, Sydney University.

HOIST (2002). NSW Inpatient Statistics Collection (HOIST). july 11999 to june 30 2000. Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, North Sydney: NSW Health Department.

LANGLEYJ., STEPHENSON S., CRYER C. & BORMAN B. Traps for the unwary in estimating person based injury incidence using hospital discharge data. Injury Prevention 2002, 8(6), 332-337.