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A cyclist on the bike lanes that connect Durban’s Botanic
Gardens in Berea to the CBD and the beachfront
(Photo: Urban Earth Margaret McKenzie)
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GOOD news for cyclists still waiting on municipalities to wake up
to cycle lanes — a five-year study of over 18 000 cycling injuries in Canada
show dedicated lanes are much more effective than wearing helmets to lower risk
of head injuries.
The study, which was published on BMJ Journals for healthcare professionals and researchers,
echoed the surprise finding from a similar 2006 study, which stated if helmet
laws were effective, far fewer adult cyclist should show head injuries,
The 2006 study analysed 10 504 hospitalised cyclists in several
states, where helmet wearing among adults in New Zealand had increased from 43%
to 92%, but the injuries did not decrease.
Last week’s Canadian study shows “share mode transport” is a far
better at lowering head trauma from crashes than wearing a helmets.
The study states “helmet legislation was not associated with
hospitalisation rates for brain, head, scalp, skull, face or neck
injuries.
“These results suggest that transportation and health policymakers
who aim to reduce bicycling injury rates in the population, should focus on
factors related to increased cycling mode share and female cycling choices.
“Bicycling routes designed to be physically separated from traffic
or along quiet streets fit both these criteria and are associated with lower
relative risks of injury,” concluded the study.
Wikipedia explains modal share is an important component of
sustainable transport, with many cities setting targets of 30% cycle and walking
lanes; 30% public transport, leaving 40% of the road space for private cars or
motorbikes.
Dedicated lanes in KZN
In KwaZulu-Natal, eThekwini is the only city to
offer dedicated cycling lanes, although the city’s jargon for a cycling lane is
NMT — for “Non-Motorised Transport”.
eThekwini next plans to connect all major
buildings in the city centre and ultimately replicated cycling lanes in other
major nodes of eThekwini, including Pinetown, Umlazi, KwaMashu and Umhlanga. The
NMT plan is itself included in the City’s Integrated Rapid Transport Network
(IRPTN) programme.
Project manager from the eThekwini Energy Office, Craig Richards,
told Urban Earth the cycling lane
project is part of a broader NMT programme that eThekwini has embarked on to
improve cycling conditions and infrastructure in the city.
“Most projects thus far have focused on improving cycling
infrastructure in the city.
“These include the Durban beachfront and the routes that were
developed for COP17, which have been extended recently using funding from KFW
[German development bank] and the Department of Environmental Affairs,” Richards
said.
His office hopes to raise the profile of cycling in the city and
encourage people to use bicycles to commute to and from work.
Methodology
The Canadian study examined administrative data
on hospital stays for bicycling injuries, calculating hospitalisation rates
based on national survey data of national bicycling trips.
During the study period between 2006–2011, there was an average of
3 690 hospitalisations per year and an estimated 593 million cycling trips among
people 12 years of age and older, for a cycling hospitalisation rate of 622 per
100 million trips.
Hospitalisation rates varied substantially across the jurisdiction,
age and sex strata, but only two characteristics explained this
variability.
For all injury causes, men consistently had more injuries than
women.
For traffic-related injury causes, higher cycling mode share was
consistently associated with lower hospitalisation rates.
