Single-bicycle crashes in Finland - Characteristics and safety recommendations.

Problem: Increasing the role of cycling is necessary to reduce physical inactivity. While promoting cycling, attention should also be given to traffic safety. Hence, a better understanding on the underlying factors and safety recommendations of cyclist crashes is needed.

How automated vehicles should operate to avoid fatal crashes with cyclists?

The study assesses what kind of features would allow highly automated vehicles' (HAVs) safe operation in encounters with cyclists and allow avoiding fatal crashes between cyclists and passenger cars. Five features of HAVs' capabilities are formed based on previous studies and evaluated qualitatively using data from fatal crashes between driver-managed passenger cars and cyclist in Finland. By analysing these crashes, it is assessed which features HAVs should have in order to avoid each crash in a hypothetical setting, in which driver-managed cars would be replaced by HAVs.

The most difficult at-fault fatal crashes to avoid with current active safety technology.

Objective: We studied which current fatal at-fault crashes would occur despite the most advanced current active safety devices (up to SAE level 2 of driving automation) and how frequent these crashes would be.

Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study of passenger cars that were first registered during the period 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2017 in Finland. To gain the true exposure for these cars, we accessed the national Vehicular and Driver Data Register to obtain the mileage information and the registration count for the study period of 2010-17.