1. Bicycle Crash Reporting in the US
International Cycling Safety Conference
September 22, 2017
Patricia Kovacs
Ohio Bicycle Federation
Improving Ohio bicycling through legislation, education and shared ideas.

2. Outline Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria 5th Edition Updates
Problems with existing and proposed reports
Proposal for improvements to bike crash reporting
Uses of crash report data

3. MMUCC terminology Date element is an attribute of a crash
time
location
manner of collision
Element attributes are enumerated values of a data element, such as manner of collision
angle
rear-end
head-on

4. 4th Edition Data Elements (2012)
Crash data elements
Crash date and time
Location: roadway names, intersection type
First harmful event
non-collision (immersion, rollover)
collision (motor vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist)
collision with fixed object (bridge, curb, guardrail, post)
Manner of collision: angle, rear-end, head-on
Weather conditions
Light conditions
Hit/Run (none, solved, unsolved)

5. Vehicle Data Elements Type: car, truck, bus
Direction of travel: from/to
Traffic control device: stop, signal
Sequence of Events
Pre-crash action (straight ahead, changing lanes, overtaking/passing, turning right/left)
Contributing circumstances (failure to yield, ran red light/stop sign, exceeded speed limit, wrong way)
Vehicle defect (brakes, tire blowout, lamps)

6. Person Data Elements Name, Age, Address Injury, emergency transport
Seating position
Safety equipment (seatbelt, child restraint, helmet)
Condition (alcohol, drugs, drowsy, ill)
Distraction (phone, electronic device)

7. Changes in 5th edition Fatal crash section – to improve FARS quality
Large Vehicle/Hazardous Cargo
Automated vehicle capability (none, partial, full)
New Non-Motorist Section
Additional bikeway types
Add origin/dest for school and transit
Add distraction, DUI, point of contact
Other miscellaneous changes

8. Major issues with bicycle crash reporting
Manner of collision
Vehicle type does not include bicycle
Pre-crash action
Contributing circumstances

9. Manner of collision MMUCC states this applies only to 2 MOTOR vehicles
Angle
Rear-end
Head-on
Rear-to-rear
Backing
Sideswipe – same direction
Sideswipe – opposite direction
Not a collision between two motor vehicles in transport – used for bicycle crashes (99.5% of Ohio bicycle crashes)

10. Vehicle type != bicycle MMUCC data element is MOTOR vehicle
Ohio DOES include vehicle type = bicycle
So… we can derive manner of collision from vehicle attributes
Right hook
(MotoristFrom = CyclistFrom) AND (MotoristAction = Turning right)

11. Pre-crash Action Cyclist is not considered a driver
Non-Motorist Actions
Entering or crossing location
Walking, running, jogging, playing, cycling
Working
Pushing vehicle
Approaching or leaving vehicle
In Ohio, ~50% are “Walking… cycling”, 25% are “Entering or crossing”, 25% are other/unknown
Useful driver actions: turning, changing lanes, overtaking

12. Contributing Circumstance
Non-Motorist Contributing Circumstances
Improper crossing
Darting
Lying in roadway
Failure to yield right of way
Failure to obey traffic signs
Not visible
Inattentive
Wrong side of road
Why are cyclists the only drivers who “dart”?
Useful driver circumstances: swerving to avoid obstacle, driving left of center

13. Dooring
The only indication of dooring is by non-motorists “approaching or leaving vehicle”
This value is not used for motorists (drivers)
Derive from
(MotoristAction = Parked) AND (MotoristImpact Like (“*side*”)

14. 1, 2, 3, what are fighting for?
Remove “not a collision between two vehicles in transport” from Manner of collision for car/bike crashes
Bicycles are vehicles, add vehicle type = bicycle
Add Dooring as a pre-crash action

15. Additional Vehicle Asks
Vehicle type: animal-drawn vehicle (for Amish)
Traffic signs: share the road, bikes may use full lane
Traffic signals: pedestrian signal, pedestrian hybrid beacon, rectangular rapid flash beacon, bike signal, bus signal
Pavement markings: bike box, two stage turn queue

16. New pedestrian beacons

17. Additional Person Asks
Pre-crash action: opened car door into overtaking traffic
Already included in Illinois crash report since 2011
18% of Chicago crashes are doorings in
New Data Element Assistive Devices: wheelchair, guide dog, cane

18. Additional Roadway Asks
Edgeline presence/type: shoulder rumble strip, edgeline rumble stripe
New Data Element Accessible Features: curb cut, audible signal, tactile pavement

19. Edgeline/centerline rumble stripes

20. Proposal
Proposal reviewed by American Bicycling Education Association, League of American Bicyclists and Ride Illinois
Proposal submitted to Governors Highway Safety Association and Ohio Traffic Records Coordinating Committee
MMUCC Fifth Edition released summer, 2017

21. Final Fifth Edition Most proposals were NOT accepted.
Clarification of bikeway types
Signed route
Shared lane markings (sharrows)
On-street bike lanes
On-street buffered bike lanes
Separated bike lanes
Off-street trails/sidepaths
New pre-crash actions related to walking/cycling on roadway, shoulder or sidewalk and whether with or against traffic

22. Ohio crash report analysis
Ohio Dept of Public Safety provides crash data in the public domain
Data is downloaded quarterly
Bicycle and pedestrian crashes are queried and normalized
Manner of collision is derived
Crashes are imported into Google Maps and users can view crash locations and select crash records.

23. Magic Happens

24. Google Map of bike crashes

25. Crash Attributes DocumentNumber 20166121778 CrashDate 08102016
CrashTime 1804
LocationRoad Livingston
ReferenceRoad Burlington
Latitude
Longitude
Collision Not collision between two vehicles in transport
CollisionDerived Angle
Severity Fatal
HitSkip Solved
Location Not a intersection
Weather Clear
Contour Straight level
Light Daylight
Error Unit Motorist

26. Motorist Attributes MotoristUnitType Mid size MotoristAge 41
MotoristGender F
MotoristEvent Pedalcycle
MotoristAction Straight ahead
MotoristCircumstance Unknown
MotoristLocation Zero
MotoristFrom W
MotoristTo E
MotoristControl No controls
MotoristImpact Right front
MotoristCondition Normal
MotoristDistraction No distraction
MotoristSafety Unknown

27. Cyclist Attributes CyclistAge 69 CyclistGender M
CyclistEvent Motor vehicle in transport
CyclistAction NonMotorist Walk, run, jog, play, cycling
CyclistCircumstance Failure to yield
CyclistLocation Shoulder/roadside
CyclistFrom S
CyclistTo N
CyclistControl No controls
CyclistImpact None
CyclistCondition Normal
CyclistDistraction No distraction
CyclistSafety None

28. Derived Manner of Collision
CollisionDerived
2016
2016%
Angle
935
63.6
Left cross
104
7.1
Rear-end 83
5.6
Right cross 53
3.6
Sideswipe, same direction 47
3.2
Right hook 44
3.0
Unknown 37
2.5
Single bike 35
2.4
Head-on 34
2.3
Left hook 33
2.2
Backing 17
1.2
Bike sideswipe car 14
1.0
Bike rear-end car 10
0.7
Bike rear-end parked car 8
0.5
Bike bike 7
Sideswipe, opposite direction 5
0.3
Bike sideswipe parked car 4
Dooring 2
0.1
1470

29. Cyclist at fault

30. Motorist at fault

31. Bikeway evaluation

32. Why look at crash report data?
Crash type analysis helps to focus education
Roundabout safety
Gahanna’s first roundabout crashes increased 11 to 49 per year
Gahanna latest 2-lane roundabout added RRFBs in crosswalks!
Traffic signal removal safety
Signal management system upgrade requires review of all signals
Smart Columbus will add automated and connected vehicles
Legislative advocacy
Hit & runs - 26% bicycle, 28% pedestrian crashes, look for improvements now that penalty increased
Rear-ends and Sideswipes to support and evaluate 3’ law
9.4% Bicycling & Law, Bob Mionske, JD
Ohio crashes: 8.8% in 2016
Increase highway speed limits to 70 in 2013 – highway injury and fatal crashes increased 8.7% in 2014.

33. Quality of crash report data
Lack of reporting of bike/pedestrian crashes
“It’s only a bicycle”
Property damage limits increased in 2012 from $400 to $1000, but all injury crashes must be reported, 84% bicycle, 90% pedestrian crashes result in injury
Errors in reporting and judgment of fault
In general, Columbus police are fair with bike crash reporting, but some problems occur
Sidewalk cycling ban in Columbus leads to many cyclists at fault when hit in crosswalks

34. Future
Update studies of specific projects in Ohio – sharrows, bike lanes, separated bike lanes using crash data and bike counts where available.
Participate in review team updating Ohio crash report guidelines. Ensure we don’t step backwards.

35. Conclusion
Bike and pedestrian crash maps available on OBF website
Questions?
Patricia Kovacs,