Lateral spacing works. We analyzed cyclist overtaking accidents two years later

Since the introduction of the mandatory lateral distance when overtaking people on bicycles in 2022, a more detailed analysis of the accident rate related to this overtaking has not been carried out. In this analysis, we build on the 2022 evaluation, which for the first time attempted to assess accidents related to overtaking a cyclist based on the causes of the accidents and other parameters of the accidents.

→Analysis of the lateral distance to download←

In the analysis, we confirm the earlier finding that accidents related to overtaking a cyclist can make up around 7% of all accidents involving a cyclist and over 15% of all accidents involving cyclists with severe health consequences, and are thus not a mere marginality in the area of ​​cycling safety.

In the accident database of the Police of the Czech Republic, we have identified 9 causes of accidents that occur directly when overtaking. For the other 12 causes, under other circumstances (collisions from the rear, from the side or lateral collisions outside the intersection), it can be assumed that they were also accidents related to overtaking a cyclist. We looked up the number of these accidents and compared the annual averages for the period before the introduction of the mandatory distance (years 2019-2021) and after its introduction (2022-2023). We also corrected the comparison for the change in the total number of collisions between cars and cyclists.

The number of accidents related to overtaking a cyclist (21 causes) decreased slightly in the years after the introduction of the lateral distance (from 292 to 288 accidents, by 1.2%). However, since the total number of crashes involving cyclists increased by less than 4%, the share of accidents related to overtaking in the total number of crashes decreased by less than 5%. In the accident category “wrong overtaking” (9 causes), the decrease in this share is even more pronounced (by 17%). The share of accidents related to overtaking that resulted in serious health consequences for the cyclist decreased by 11.5% after the introduction of the lateral distance, in absolute terms it is 7 accidents per year.

The analysis carried out thus shows an improvement in the safety of cyclists when overtaking by other vehicles after the introduction of the mandatory lateral distance rule.

At the same time, the detected decreases correspond to the long-term trend of the decreasing number of accidents and the number of accidents with severe consequences in the last decade, which are always a combination of several causes.

The number of accidents in which the Police of the Czech Republic identified overtaking without sufficient lateral distance as the cause increased by 26% (on average from 23 to 29 accidents per year).

In contrast to the general reduction in the number of accidents related to overtaking cyclists, a significant increase in the number of those accidents where excessive speed or aggressive driving also played a role was found (from 44 to 63 accidents per year, after correction for development by almost 40%). We therefore consider it appropriate that the issue of reckless and aggressive driving should be investigated more.

You can download the entire analysis at this link

Do you like what we do at AutoMat? Support us and donate to AutoMat any amount. Thank you.