Cyclists' interaction with infrastructure
Methods for risk assessment and obstacle design
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55329/jmnu7217Keywords:
traffic safety, cycling, single accidents, bicycle fallsAbstract
The overall objective of this project has been to increase knowledge regarding how infrastructure affects the risk of fall accidents and how to design safer cycling environments. The project is divided into two studies focusing on risk analysis and physical design, respectively.
Study 1 focused on developing and testing a method for proactive risk assessment using video analysis and Extreme Value Theory (EVT). By analyzing cyclists' movement patterns at three locations in Lund, the risk of two specific types of instability could be quantified: the risk of pitching over the handlebars (pitch-over) and the risk of skidding (skidding). The results demonstrate that the method can successfully identify risk-prone segments within the infrastructure, enabling targeted measures before accidents occur.
Study 2 investigated the design of chicanes (bicycle barriers) through an experiment at VTI's cycle test track. A total of 37 cyclists with various types of bicycles (including cargo bikes and velomobiles) tested twelve different combinations of gate distances and overlaps. The study shows that current recommendations for chicanes force cyclists to slow down to speeds below 10 km/h, which is the threshold where a bicycle becomes unstable. Furthermore, larger bicycles have significant difficulties passing through the current standard design.
Conclusions and recommendations. The project concludes that bicycle infrastructure must be designed to maintain bicycle stability. For kissing gates intended for speed reduction, a new design with a longitudinal distance of 2.5 meters and an overlap of 0.5 meters is recommended. This configuration allows for a stable passing speed while still dampening the speed of fast cyclists. The report also highlights the potential of using video-based analysis as a tool to systematically evaluate and improve traffic safety for cyclists.
Author Biographies
Carl Johnsson, Lund University, Sweden
Carl Johnsson is an Assistant Professor at Lund University. His research focuses on methods for traffic safety evaluation, mainly through observations from video recordings, with a particular emphasis on unprotected road users.
CRediT contribution: Data curation, Methodology, Project administration, Software, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Jenny Eriksson, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), Sweden
Jenny Eriksson is a statistician and investigator at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI). She is involved in traffic safety work, primarily focusing on pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Zhankun Chen, Lund University, Sweden
Zhankun Chen is a PhD student in traffic safety at Lund University. His current research focuses on proactive methods for traffic safety analysis, particularly the application and interpretation of extreme value theory in the analysis of microscopic traffic interactions.
CRediT contribution: Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft.
Kevin Gildea, Lund University, Sweden
Kevin Gildea was a postdoctoral researcher at Lund University until 2025. His research focuses on the combination of computer vision, deep learning, and multi-object dynamics. In particular, it emphasizes the use of these technologies for studies of injury biomechanics, with a special focus on unprotected road users.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Methodology, Project administration.
Aliaksei Laureshyn, Lund University, Sweden
Aliaksei Laureshyn is an Associate Professor of Traffic Safety at Lund University. His main expertise lies in the theory and practical application of proactive (non‑accident‑based) methods for traffic safety analysis. His other research interests include methods for traffic data collection, unprotected road users, and policy and practice in traffic safety work.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation.
References
Algurén, B., & Rizzi, M. (2022). In-depth understanding of single bicycle crashes in Sweden - Crash characteristics, injury types and health outcomes differentiated by gender and age-groups. Journal of Transport & Health, 24, 101320. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2021.101320
Amin, K., Hedlund, J., Forsman, Å., Vadeby, A., Fredriksson, R., Hurtig, P., Larsson, P., Lindholm, M., Sternlund, S., & Rizzi, M. (2021). Analys av trafiksäkerhetsutvecklingen 2020: Målstyrning av trafiksäkerhetsarbetet mot etappmålen 2020.
Baran, I., Lehtinen, J., & Popović, J. (2010). Sketching clothoid splines using shortest paths. Computer Graphics Forum, 29(2), 655–664. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8659.2009.01635.x
Cain, S. M., Ashton-Miller, J. A., & Perkins, N. C. (2016). On the skill of balancing while riding a bicycle. PLOS One, 11(2), e0149340. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149340
Eriksson, J., Henriksson, P., & Rizzi, M. (2022). Oskyddade trafikanters inblandning i olyckor och deras skadeutfall: En jämförande studie mellan fotgängare, cyklister, mopedister och motorcyklister (VTI rapport 1133).
ERSO. (2024). Road safety thematic report – Cyclists. European Road Safety Observatory.
Gildea, K., Hall, D., Mercadal-Baudart, C., Caulfield, B., & Simms, C. (2023). Computer vision-based assessment of cyclist-tram track interactions for predictive modeling of crossing success. Journal of safety research, 87, 202–216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2023.09.017
Gulliksson, A., & Söderström, L. (2004). Hastighet och bekvämlighet i cykelgrindar: Resultat från småskaliga försök i Lund. Lunds tekniska högskola.
Hossein Sabbaghian, M., Llopis-Castelló, D., & García, A. (2025). Typology of bike lane users motion on horizontal curves: a surrogate safety approach. Transportation Research Record, 2680. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981251364837
Meijaard, J. P., Papadopoulos, J., Ruina, A., & Schwab, A. L. (2007). Linearized dynamics equations for the balance and steer of a bicycle: a benchmark and review. Proceedings A, 463(2084), 1955–1982. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2007.1857
Olesen, A. V., Madsen, T. K. O., Hels, T., Hosseinpour, M., & Lahrmann, H. S. (2021). Single-bicycle crashes: an in-depth analysis of self-reported crashes and estimation of attributable hospital cost. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 161, 106353. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2021.106353
Persson, N. (2023). Control and navigation of an autonomous bicycle [Licentiate thesis, Mälardalens universitet].
Schepers, P., Stipdonk, H., Methorst, R., & Olivier, J. (2017). Bicycle fatalities: Trends in crashes with and without motor vehicles in The Netherlands. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 46, 491–499. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2016.05.007
Schwab, A. L., Meijaard, J. P., & Kooijman, J. D. G. (2012). Lateral dynamics of a bicycle with a passive rider model: stability and controllability. Vehicle System Dynamics, 50(No. 8), 15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00423114.2011.610898
SKL. (2010). Gcm-handbok - Utformning, drift och underhåll med gång-, cykel- och mopedtrafik i fokus. Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting.
Stigell, E., Niska, A., Collander, C., Eriksson, J., & Nilsson, A. (2019). Att sänka cyklisters hastighet på cykelbanor: acceptans, konsekvenser och förutsättningar (VTI rapport 1027). Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut.
Trafikverket. (2022). Vägars och gators utformning - RÅD. Trafikverket.
Trafikverket. (2024). Vägar och gators utformning - Krav med rådstexter. Trafikverket.
Transportstyrelsen. (2018). Strada bortfallshandbok 2018. Transportstyrelsen.
Utriainen, R., O’Hern, S., & Pöllänen, M. (2023). Review on single-bicycle crashes in the recent scientific literature. Transport Reviews, 43(2), 159–177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2022.2055674
Yi, J., Zhang, Y., & Song, D. (2009). Autonomous motorcycles for agile maneuvers, part I: Dynamic modeling 48th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control held jointly with 28th Chinese Control Conference. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/CDC.2009.5399495
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Carl Johnsson, Jenny Eriksson, Zhankun Chen, Kevin Gildea, Aliaksei Laureshyn
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Funding data
-
Trafikverket
Grant numbers TRV 2021/53321
