About 38 cyclists die in crashes every year, and the majority of those killed are men and those aged 45 and above, data published on Wednesday shows.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare collated cycling death and injury data over the 17 years to 2016. It found that while the death rate remained fairly stable over that time, the age at which injured cyclists died changed noticeably. There were a total of 651 deaths and 160,000 hospitalisations during that period.
In 1999–00, 48% of cyclists injured in cycling crashes were aged between five and 14, compared with 20% in 2015-16. In contrast, hospitalisations among 25– to 44-year-olds rose from 18% to 31%, and from 7% to 26% in the 45- to 64-year-old age group.
Of those killed, 90% were men, and 90% of fatal incidents occurred on-road.
The institute spokesman Prof James Harrison said the severity of injuries sustained by cyclists also increased with age.
“Those aged 45 and over were more likely to have life-threatening injuries, stay longer in hospital and be transferred to another hospital,” he said. Fractures were also more likely in this age group. The higher injury rates could be partly explained by participation surveys which show an increasing number of older Australians taking up cycling, the report found, while rates fell or rose only slightly in younger age groups.
Compared with other types of land transport users, cyclists were less likely to sustain life-threatening injuries unless they were aged 45 and over; in this age group, life-threatening injuries were as common as those injured in motor vehicle and motorcycle crashes.
While the overall rate of hospitalisation of cyclists rose over the 17-year period, hospitalisation fell by 1.3% per year for motorists and by 2.2% per year for pedestrians.
“While the hospitalisation rates of pedal cyclists for on-road and off-road crashes fluctuated… both rates recorded similar increases since 2010–11, of 4.7% per year for on-road and 4.3% for off-road,” the report found.
In the three years to 2016, nearly half of cyclist deaths were due to head and neck injuries. In 38% of deaths, the cyclist had injuries to multiple parts of their body.
Being injured in a non-collision event, such as falling off a bike, was the most common reason cyclists were hospitalised, whether they were injured on-road or off-road. Another cyclist was involved in the crash in 5% of cases. Motor vehicles were involved in 23% of on-road cyclist crashes and in 1% of off-road crashes.
