Cycling UK Forum

please get in touch if you see this offered for sale anywhere - stolen from Bristol last week. *had* pannier, attached. thanks very much. size 58. anyone want to sell me similar non stolen replacement get in touch too thanks very much

Hello Scottd you are obviously much more proactive than me. I think the site is really good - more or less wht I envisaged.

With more traffic you could get advertisers who could pay for the advertising and development of the site.

A colleague has pointed out you might want to add safety tips / how to deal with roadrage nutters, etc etc.

I would launch the London site for a lifetime supply of inner tubes.

thanks for posting this. it's interesting.

It is quite different to what I was suggesting though. I'm thinking more a google map linked to a form where you add as much info as possible about the accident you were involved with. something more user friendly that would take 5 minutes rather than a big pdf.

You could read this 186 page report and still not know whether to avoid a particular roundabout or whatever.

As for self reporting - yes of course people don't remember stuff accurately and some will lie or whatever - true of all research involving people. but it still goes on and i'm sure that through recording a few contemporaneous notes you can still get some useful data. for example the date, time, street, road, junction type if applicable, type of bicycle, time of day, etc are unlikely to be influenced by personal bias.


anway just a thought it seems most people aren't into it and you'd need a critical mass of folk involved for it to be worthwhile.

well I used to be a journalist so I know all about making statistics do whatever you want them too ...

anyway you'd definitely have to analyse data carefully - think freakonomics. but it's interesting that there is so little info about what microfactors cause accidents. I have a theory about Volvo estates ...

I didn't know that the police and hospitals survey cyclists involved in accidents - but it seems very piecemeal, they are rightly more concerned with curing the sick / catching criminals than making cycling safer.

Revising my original point: would people be motivated to spend 5 minutes logging accident data? Would you?

-The helmet thing isn't the most important point here - there's loads of other stuff to record. like where accidents are most likely to happen, when, at what speed, type of injuries, etc.

You might be able to plan your route to avoid accident blackspots - if they exist. Or change your cycling behaviour.

As you point out people might lie ... but you might also get some useful stuff too. That's user generated content for you.

Interesting stuff about hospitals - I'm not sure though that I would trust the NHS to collect this kind of info! Plus I'd be interested in events where people fall off their bike but don't end up in hospital ... or dead

[btw I'd disagree with the comment that 'helmet manufacturers would be quite unhappy about the findings if you included data about helmet wearing and head injuries', unless you are saying that helmets make no difference at all to head injuries. do you really truly believe that? You'd prefer to land on your head than on a helmet?]

I don't think there's enough accurate data. Let's start a bicycle accidents database to rectify the situation: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=12734

The other day I was knocked off my bike. I wasn't hurt and the guy who drove into me was a very nice bloke, accepted full responsibility, offered me a meal at his restaurant and gave me twenty quid to true my wheel.

It occurred to me that there is a mass of data about this bike accident - and several others every day - which has been lost. For example:

- where exactly did it happen?
- what time of day?
- what injuries occurred?
- was a helmet worn?
- what kind of bike was being used?
- what did passers by do?

And much more.

Now it occurs to me if you created a website where you encouraged users provide information about every cycle accident they are involved in, perhaps a Google Maps mash up linked to an online form, you could prevent accidents.

Just looking at the accident map and data might help people take care on their commute - it might influence street layout or driving legislation [er...aim high].

I think it would be a fun research project and could save a life or two. Is anybody reading this a helmet manufacturer/insurance company/government department who would want to fund this research? I'd happily take 6 months off to get this off the ground.

I think it could be low cost and high impact as it were. What do people think?