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Cycling levels in cities keep increasing, which is accompanied with more cyclists being involved in serious road crashes. This paper aims to contribute to safer urban cycling by examining risk factors associated with cycling in the four largest Dutch cities, incorporating spatial and temporal variations in bicycle crash risk. For this purpose, the crashes and exposure metrics are analysed on an hourly temporal resolution. The results reveal that utilising an hourly temporal resolution in the exposure metrics and bicycle crash risk gives more detailed results compared to daily averages of these metrics. Moreover, the exposure to cyclists and motorised vehicles both have a significant impact on bicycle crash risk. The results also imply that separating cyclists from high-speed motorised vehicles might be more important than implementing a lower speed limit to curb the increasing severity of crashes. Despite some local differences, the overall results of the risk factors are remarkably similar across the cities, providing increased generalisability and transferability of the study. The findings indicate that concerns about the effects of increasing bicycle use and large flows of motorised vehicles on bicycle crash risk are valid, showing the importance of efforts towards improving bicycle safety in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper discusses the current level of the road safety problems of cycling and cyclists, why cyclists run relatively high risks, and why cyclists may be considered as ‘vulnerable road users’. This paper is based on peer-reviewed research which give some idea how to reduce the number of cyclist casualties. However, this research is rather limited and the results cannot (easily) be transferred from one setting or country to another: generalization of results should only be done with the utmost care, if it is to be done at all. Interventions to reduce cyclist casualties worldwide seem to be of an incidental nature; that is to say, they are implemented in a rather isolated way. In a Safe System approach, such as the Dutch Sustainable Safety vision, the inherent risks of traffic are dealt with in a systematic, proactive way. We illustrate how this approach is especially effective for vulnerable road users, such as cyclists. Finally, the paper addresses the question of whether it is possible to make more cycling good for road safety. We conclude that when the number of cyclists increases, the number of fatalities may increase, but will not necessarily do so, and the outcome is dependent on specific conditions. There is strong evidence that well-designed bicycle facilities—physically separated networks—reduce risks for cyclists, and therefore have an impact on the net safety result, for example if car-kilometres are substituted by bicycle kilometres. Policies to support cycling should incorporate these findings in order to make more cycling good for road safety. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• An hourly temporal resolution in exposure and bicycle safety was employed. • Network-wide bicycle and motorised vehicle volumes were estimated. • Both more cyclists and motorised vehicles on the road lead to more bicycle crashes. • In peak hours, bicycle crashes increase the most. • 30 km/h roads and separated bicycle facilities are safer for cyclists. Cycling is promoted as a sustainable and healthy mode of transport, which results in an increase in bicycle use in urban areas. Increasing bicycle use comes with growing concerns about cyclist safety. This study examines how the temporal variation in the network-wide exposure to cyclists and motorised vehicles affects bicycle crash frequency. Network-wide hourly volumes of cyclists and motorised vehicles were estimated and regression models were used to identify the effect of the exposure to traffic on bicycle crashes in the city of Utrecht, a Dutch cycling capital. The results show that increasing exposure to motorised vehicles, and to a lesser extent, exposure to cyclists, increases the number of bicycle crashes on 50 km/h roads. For 30 km/h roads, no statistically significant relationship between the exposure to cyclists and bicycle crashes was found. Moreover, it was shown that cyclist crash numbers on 30 km/h roads are less sensitive to an increase in the exposure to motorised vehicles compared to cyclist crash numbers on 50 km/h roads. Furthermore, the exposure to motorised vehicles is a stronger factor affecting the increase in bicycle crashes on roads with bicycle lanes or mixed traffic conditions than on roads with separated bicycle facilities. To conclude, this study shows that road safety for cyclists needs further improvements, as cycling in cities keeps increasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]