Legal : A look at the high risk of personal injury faced by cyclists

Records show that 134 cyclists were killed, 2,174 suffered serious personal injury and 14,430 suffered slight personal injury in the UK in 2004. Road traffic accidents are the main cause of cyclist fatalities and serious personal injuries due to the speed at which the impact takes place and the lack of protection for the cyclist.

Many of the cyclists involved in road traffic accidents are children cycling to and from school. It is estimated that one in four cycling fatalities is aged less than 16, and 16 is the age where most fatalities occur. The majority of child cyclists who are involved in road traffic accidents are considered to be at fault in the accident, although many are thought to not speak up for themselves even when they were not at fault.
The most common personal injury suffered by a cyclist involved in a road traffic accident is an arm injury, closely followed by a head injury and a leg injury. Over half of all cyclist casualties suffer damage to their arms, which can be as minor as scrapes and bruises or as serious as broken bones.

There are two ways to reduce the number of cyclists suffering personal injury:

Reduce the number of cycling accidents
Increase the protection of the cyclists
Reducing the number of cycling accidents
Reducing the number of cyclist personal injuries can be achieved through each cyclist taking more responsibility for their own safety. Many cyclists do not check their bike thoroughly before taking it out, and could benefit from checking their tyres, brakes and lights to ensure that their bicycle is in the best possible condition.

There are also a proportion of cyclists who do not don bright or reflective clothing to help draw other road users' attention to themselves. Wearing easy to see clothing is a simple and important step that all cyclists can take to reduce the risk of suffering personal injury in a road traffic accident.

Cyclists can also improve their defensive riding skills and brush up on The Highway Code through taking a training course. Many councils run cycling training schemes for both adults and children to help reduce the number of bicycle accidents.

However, councils can also help by providing safe and useful cycle lanes on the roads. Many cyclists feel that the current provisions are not enough, believing that many cycle lanes are too narrow, poorly thought out, and in some cases, impossible to use. Cycle lanes are often blocked by parked cars and skips or just end abruptly, and cyclists often feel the lanes are just too dangerous to use safely.

Increasing the protection of cyclists
The only protection that a cyclist can currently get is a helmet which is intended to protect the head in a low impact crash. They are designed to provide protection against personal injury in accidents up to 12 mph where the cyclist is the only person involved. However, they are not expected to offer full protection in road traffic accidents with other moving vehicles, which account for many serious personal injuries and fatalities.

Many cyclists argue over whether cycle helmets actually prevent personal injury, and a range of studies which have been conducted have returned conflicting results. It is not mandatory for cyclists to wear a helmet, and most cycling organisations neither disavow nor recommend helmets, saying that they are very much a matter of personal choice.

Have you suffered personal injury in a cycling accident that was not your fault?
If you have been hurt in a road traffic accident that was someone else's fault, you should consider making an accident claim. The first thing to do is take advantage of the free legal advice offered by specialist personal injury firms so that you can make an informed decision as to whether you want to make an accident claim.

Whether you were wearing a helmet or not may affect your compensation claim, and this should be discussed fully with a personal injury solicitor.

Editorial notes: YouClaim are the leading online personal injury compensation claim people with a 97% claim success rate. Call 0800 10 757 95 or visit http://www.youclaim.co.uk for more details.

Author: Alex Gubbins - http://www.youclaim.co.uk or 0800 10 757 95