Young cyclists

Many Sub Saharan African countries still have dire transport needs. Children in particular are faced with mobility constraints in their quest to access, education, health and recreation. This study investigated the ownership and use of bicycles among children in Rural Ghana. The study was conducted in six rural communities within two ecological zones (forest and coastal). Both qualitative and quantitative data collections were employed within the context of a cross-sectional study design. A sample size of 454 was chosen among children aged between 8 and 18. Individual and households were used as unit of analysis where appropriate. Results from this study revealed that 36.4% of the households owned bicycles whilst usage was significantly higher at 63.9%.

The study of the injury caused by vehicle-teenage cyclist crash is presented in this paper. The results of the crash with three vehicles: sedan, SUV and Pick up are compared. Three different positions are analyzed: front, rear and lateral position. The injury on the cyclist head is examined by HIC criterion, in the way indicated by the rules. A comparison is done between the results of the simulations for Pick up, SUV and sedan, concluding that the injury of the head is more dangerous for Pickup impact than SUV or the sedan, but only at greater speed than 40 km/h. Teenage cyclist is more likely to suffer an injury to the chest in rear impacts with the sedan, because 3 ms values remain above the values obtained with the SUV and Pick up. Unlike Pick up could cause greater injury to the chest in the front and side impact because of greater height from the ground. The vehicle mass has not great importance, but only to low speed. Consideration is made that teenage cyclist has a better chance of surviving in the front impact collision than adult pedestrian, because HIC values remain consistently below the determined values. A further comparison is done between the impact points of the three vehicles concluding that both the shape of the bonnet and the height of the front part must be studied carefully in order to reduce the damage to cyclists and pedestrians. At last the throwing distance are calculated and compared with the literature data, concluding that they are strongly dependent on the relative position.

Data obtained in teenage cyclist impact against three vehicles (sedan, SUV and Pick Up), tested in previous works, are analyzed to verify the theoretical results by the coupling of momentum conservation principle and energy conservation principle. The speed of vehicle and thorax are compared with theoretical ones, obtaining an excellent agreement. Following the results found in the literature, particular emphasis is done on teenager cyclist thorax and head speeds, indicating that the cyclist speed can be theoretically until 1,41 times the impact speed, while greater values, until 2, are obtained in the simulations. A small slowing of the vehicle is found theoretically and in the simulations, due to kinetic energy transfer. A small component of the vehicle speed exists in the orthogonal plane to the motion, due, for example, to the compression of the rider body on the bonnet. A parameter is determined using all the data in term of thorax speed, in all the impact speeds and in all the relative positions; its value does not appear depending on the vehicle mass. It allows the subsequent determination of the best values of three geometric actual parameters identified in front of the vehicle: bumper height, bonnet height and bonnet inclination angle, by interpolation with a second order curve, by making the conclusion that the frontal part of the vehicle may be designed in order to reduce the injury.

The study of the injury caused by the vehicle-teenage cyclist crash is presented in this paper. The
vehicle is a SUV, with high frontal part, in order to compare the results with those obtained previously in the
sedan- teenage cyclist crash and begin a study of the influence of the frontal shape of the vehicle. No variation
is executed on the model of the teenage cyclist and the bike. Three different positions are analyzed: front, rear
and lateral position. The injury on the cyclist head is examined by HIC criterion, in the way indicated in the
rules. Correlation HIC – AIS is used to calculate the lethality of the injuries. The principal conclusion is done
that the injury of the head is more dangerous for the SUV impact than the sedan, but only at the maximum
speed (50 km/h). The injury to the chest is analyzed by 3 ms criterion; the injury is greater for the SUV impact
than the sedan, but the entity is strongly dependent on the cyclist position. A comparison is executed with both
the teenage and adult pedestrian concluding that the pedestrian is subjected to greater injury, because the bike
absorbs a part of the energy in the front and side crash. The more dangerous injury is the telescoping. A further
comparison show that the shape of the bonnet and the height of the frontal part have to be studied in an accurate
way to reduce the injury to pedestrians and cyclists.

Many Sub Saharan African countries still have dire transport needs. Children in particular are faced with mobility constraints in their quest to access, education, health and recreation. This study investigated the ownership and use of bicycles among children in Rural Ghana. The study was conducted in six rural communities within two ecological zones (forest and coastal). Both qualitative and quantitative data collections were employed within the context of a cross-sectional study design. A sample size of 454 was chosen among children aged between 8 and 18. Individual and households were used as unit of analysis where appropriate. Results from this study revealed that 36.4% of the households owned bicycles whilst usage was significantly higher at 63.9%.

To no surprise, there is a significant number of cyclists that do not feel safe travelling in Toronto. This belief is shared by Henry Gold, a biking enthusiast, who claims that “Toronto is the most perilous city in the world to be a cyclist.” In 2021, approximately 58 people died on Toronto’s streets and 183 more were seriously injured.