Analysis of Car-Cyclist Accidents Occurring at Relative Medium and High Vehicle Speed

The road accident-involving cyclist is frequent in Romania. Hungary, Romania and Croatia had the highest cyclist fatality rates per million population in the EU in 2015. Estonia, Luxembourg and Greece had the lowest cyclist fatality rates per million population in the EU. The mortality rate of a cyclist accident is significantly higher than for other accidents. Thus, cyclist accident is one of the most accidents of traffic accidents and, therefore, cyclists are one of the most vulnerable road users. Often accidents involving cyclists happen on roads outside urban areas. Many of these bicycle car collisions occur at intersections, with the bicycle running perpendicular to the forward direction of the vehicle. These types of cyclist impacts are characterized by collision speeds above 55 km/h, and are often fatal for the cyclists involved. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the conditions in which such accidents occur. The theoretical reconstruction of the road traffic event in order to obtain results as close of the real event is another goal of this paper.