Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Are Velomobiles or Recumbents Safe?

                                       photo from http://wimharwig.com/2009/04/

Results poll of accidents as reported on http://bickyenzijnfietsen.blogspot.ca/

Time to evaluate the data obtained.

The end result was 198 completed forms and came within easy with the largest sources wim fencers and ligfiets.net site (thanks)
The data are made ​​anonymous and can be found here for general use . This data is free to use but please add a link to my blog please. I put all the figures for percentage chance to have an accident within the 10.000km. How much time is difficult to estimate because everyone has different driving distances per year.

General figures:

3,192,500 recumbent kilometers (nearly 80 times around the earth cycling)
2934000 velomobile kilometers: (73 laps around the world cycling) Surveys completed following country breakdown: Recumbent Ende Belgians 30 Recumbent Ende Dutch 108 Recumbent Ende French 2 Velomobile Ende Belgians: 25 Velomobile Ende Dutch: 79

Recumbents

6% chance of accidents with bodily injuries with private counterparty 10.000km a
13% chance of accident with property damage to their own opposing bicycle per 10.000km
11% chance of damage per accident with counterparty without 10.000km
40% chance of accident without counterparty own bodily injury per 10.000km
37% chance of accident without counterparty with material damage to own a bike 10.000km Is 40% a great chance to get yourself hurt every 10.000km? If you break your leg or every 25.000km. But if an injury is a bruised buttocks. And it is well known that a fall with minor injuries recumbent gives a bukfiets. Dangerous compared to other traffic, you can not call it a recumbent. You're more likely to injure yourself by slipping anywhere, against driving through inadvertence than by anyone else in the movement of being run over. I regularly receive the comment to a comparative research with our friends stooping. But stooping my friends is not large enough to sufficiently completed forms to come. (Someone who can help or information available to him?)

Velomobiles

Quest: 46
versatile / orca: 5
WAW: 11
Sunrider: 1
Strada: 15
Mango: 16
Limit: 3
Alleweder: 8 3% chance of accidents with bodily injuries with private counterparty 10.000km a 15% chance of accident with property damage counterparty to own a bike 10.000km 3% chance of damage per accident with counterparty without 10.000km 3% without counterparty risk of accident with bodily injury per 10.000km own 21% without counterparty risk of accident with property damage to own a bike 10.000km Chances an accident / collision are much lower than in velomobile recumbent. The 3 wheels will generally less skidding crashes causing damage or injury. The distinctive shape will be of benefit in traffic.

calculation example 1

Physical injuries, I think the worst, with 2 broken fingers (no party) by bukfietsen I have had my share. With my Mango I have 6% chance of something similar encounter. with my 13.000km a year so I can about that 8% chance per year. That means statistically, 12.5 years driving without bodily injury, or 166,666 kilometers.
Personal injury is also relative. Most stories I've heard / read about hit or fall injuries geslipte velomobiles bad. The risk of damage is greater, for me as a 31% per year. And it does or pain to your wallet.

rekenvoorbeeld2

Like the fact that velomobiles twice as safe as recumbents:
So you have 107% chance every 10.000km something to come up with the recumbent and 45% chance with the velomobile.

Conclusion

Facts are Meaningless axis THEY CAN be overused to prove anything .
His recumbent and velomobile now more dangerous than driving or bukfietsen? Without figures are difficult to prove, of course. Personally I think after 28,000 kilometers lying recumbent safer than bukfietsen .. With the racing bike, I was every week once the pass cut off or ignored in traffic. With 4 x also to fall, I had not much confidence anymore. defensive driving course is the message because you can indeed have a recumbent be overlooked if you have a car right crosses. But if the car you cross he has seen and you memorize (because a recumbent you still not see every day)


When asked whether recumbents / velomobile is not dangerous I always answer that it is the car that makes it dangerous and not the type of bike.


Thanks to everyone for completing the data

1 comment:

  1. funny the english text is even translated:
    like: Facts are Meaningless axis THEY CAN be overused to prove anything = Facts are meaningless as they can be used to prove anything.

    also the text:
    "Without figures are difficult to prove, of course." is changed becaus I mean the opposite:
    "recumbent bike are more save then upright bikes"
    mu

    ReplyDelete