Abstract
A 1978 report dealt with an analysis of statewide bicycle-related, motor-vehicle accidents in Kentucky. In this study, a more detailed analysis of one city (Lexington) was performed. Accidents in a seven-year period were analyzed to make a detailed summary of several years of accident data, compare the Lexington accident summaries with statewide statistics, identify high-accident locations, and recommend accident countermeasures.
The number of bicycle accidents in Lexington has increased in recent years; however, the bicycle accident rate for Lexington was lower than that found for many other major cities in Kentucky. The largest number of bicycle accidents involved male cyclists between 10 and 14 years old. The most common accident types involved a cyclist exiting a driveway into a motorist's path or failing to stop or yield at a controlled intersection. Assigning bicycle accidents to various location zones showed that the highest percentage of accidents occurred in the zone representing the University of Kentucky. The Lexington bicycle accidents were found to involve a larger percentage of older cyclists compared to statewide statistics. An analysis of the distribution of bicycle accidents by street showed that, while bicycle accidents were distributed among a large number of streets, some streets were high-accident locations.
There are few designated bicycle facilities in Lexington. Adequate width for the addition of a designated lane does not exist on most of the high-accident streets. A designated bikeway system consisting of "shared roadway" bikeways marked by bicycle route signs or markers would serve as guidance to cyclists and alert drivers to the presence of bicycles. The existing "bicycle facilities plan" along with the high-accident streets identified in this report would provide a basis for such a system.
Report Date
3-1980
Report Number
No. 541
Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/KTC.RR.1980.541
Repository Citation
Agent, Kenneth R. and Zegeer, Charles V., "An Analysis of Bicycle-Related Motor Vehicle Accidents in Lexington, KY" (1980). Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report. 786.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ktc_researchreports/786
Notes
The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the bureau of Highways. The report does not represent a standard, specification, or regulation.