Bicycle paths can be much safer

The ANWB use a new method to improve safety of bike paths. Annually get more than 12,000 cyclists seriously injured.

Almost half of these accidents play a role in how the road was built. Bollards, curbs or tram rails can make trails and roads less safe.

This new method, CycleRAP, provides information about the roads and paths where an increased risk of a bicycle accident. Roads and paths can get scores of one to five stars. With these insights municipalities and provinces can make the road or bike path safer. In this manner, they have influence on the factors that are of influence on the score. This will allow money to improve road safety can be deployed more effectively and prevent accidents.

The next six months are over 1100 kilometers of bicycle paths and roads equipped with star ratings. The provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, Flevoland and the Waterschap rivierenland will be one of the first to work with CycleRAP. This is done on the basis of analysis of photographs. This makes clear what the dangerous areas are and whether there are obstacles where cyclists have to take into account. The municipality of Amsterdam and Metropolitan Region Rotterdam – The Hague previously launched pilot projects. The ANWB expects other governments to follow.

The ANWB Foundation for Road Safety Research (SWOV) has investigated which aspects involved in bicycle accidents in the Netherlands.