Cyclists - and escooter users - are 11 times more likely to be severely or seriously injured in a road traffic crash in Ireland than motorists involved in crashes, new research based on personal injury court cases has found.
The major new study also concluded the average amount paid in personal injury compensation cases to injured cyclists and e-scooter users was €27,837, and €20,513 respectively, or almost €10 million in 2023.
And the new study reaches multiple conclusions about cyclists involved in crashes, including the fact they are likely to sustain injuries that take much longer to recover from and that also result in psychological trauma.
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In 2023, the Injuries Resolution Board made 329 assessments of compensation for road traffic accidents affecting cyclists and 32 awards for injuries sustained by e-scooter users, totalling over €9.84 million in compensation, a new study by the board said. Other findings include:
- A majority of injured cyclists were aged between 36-60 years (54%), while most injured e-scooter users were aged between 18-35 years (59%).
- Cyclists and e-scooter users are significantly more likely to sustain serious/severe injuries in road traffic accidents than motorists.
- Based on personal injury awards made in 2023, 11% of accidents involving cyclists and e-scooter users resulted in severe/serious injuries compared to just 1% of accidents affecting motorists.
- While orthopaedic injuries were most common among both groups, e-scooter users experienced higher rates of facial injuries (13% vs. 5%).
- 1 in 5 injured cyclists and e-scooter users reported psychological injuries, with higher rates among females (30% vs. 16%), and with close to half of all injured cyclists and e-scooter users aged under 18 years sustaining psychological injuries.
- 21% of cyclists and e-scooter users were hospitalised as a result of the accident, with cyclists experiencing a longer in-patient duration (4.5 days) than injured e-scooter users (1.5 days).
- E-scooter users were more likely to report not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident than cyclists (34% vs. 19%, respectively).
- Injured e-scooter users were more likely to be students (16% vs. 9%) and minors aged under 18
years (13% vs. 5%) compared to cyclists. - E-scooter accidents are twice as likely to occur between 6 PM and 6 AM, with 31% occurring during these hours compared to 15% for cyclist accidents.
- Almost all accidents involved collisions with cars (90%), with 10% involving trucks, buses, or vans, and 1% involving motorcyclists.
- While specific location data was not available for every case, 11% of accidents occurred at junctions, 10% at roundabouts, and 6% within cycle-lanes.
Rosalind Carroll, the board’s chief executive, said the new report underlined "the urgent need” to protect vulnerable road users “through informed policy and enhanced public awareness”.
“We can see from this report the broad reaching impact these accidents can have on some of our most vulnerable road users with some reporting reduced quality of life, financial loss, including job loss and strained personal relationships,” she said.
