Socioeconomic inequalities in cycling safety

class: center, inverse

# [Socioeconomic inequalities in cycling safety](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214140521003212) .ref[<br>An analysis of cycling injury risk by residential<br> deprivation level in England]

[Eugeni Vidal Tortosa](https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/transport/staff/9633/eugeni-vidal-tortosa), Robin Lovelace, Eva Heinen, and Richard P. Mann

---

## Introduction

- **Previous research** has found that people living in deprived areas are at a higher risk of injury when cycling, than people living in non-deprived areas .ref2[(Edwards et al., 2008; O’Toole and Christie, 2018; Feleke et al., 2018)].

- These studies focused on serious and fatal injuries, children, and a specific point in time.

- This paper **aims** to explore: 
  + i) inequalities in cycling injury risk by residential deprivation for *all recorded casualties*,
  + ii) whether these inequalities vary by *sex and age*, and
  + iii) how these inequalities have *changed over time*.

---

## Data and methods

#### Data

- Three datasets (for the six-year period 2014–2019) were used:

+ [STATS19  database of road traffic casualties in Britain](https://data.gov.uk/dataset/cb7ae6f0-4be6-4935-9277-47e5ce24a11f/road-safety-data)
  + [English National Travel Survey](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-travel-survey-statistics)
  + [population estimates for England](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland)

#### Methods

- We estimated the ratio of slight, serious, and fatal cycling casualties per billion kilometres (Bkm) cycled in England by:

+ residential deprivation quintile, 
  + residential deprivation quintile and sex, 
  + residential deprivation quintile and age group, and
  + residential deprivation quintile and year.

- 95% CIs using exact Poisson confidence limits were computed.

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and sex

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and sex

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and sex

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and sex

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and age group

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and age group

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and age group

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and age group

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and year

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and year

---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and year

<img src="./Images_paper3/figyear-1-2.jpg" width="80%" style="display: block; margin: auto;" />
---

## Results

#### Cycling injury rates by residential deprivation quintile and year

---

## Discussion and conclusions

#### i) The higher the level of residential deprivation, the greater the risk of minor and serious cycling injuries
  
  - More road density, traffic volume, and aggressive driving behaviour associated with higher road injury in deprived areas .ref2[(Morency et al., 2012; Hasselberg et al., 2005)]. 
  - Disadvantaged groups may be more likely to own bicycles of poor quality and have less access to safety equipment.
  
#### ii) These inequalities were particularly large for children
  
  - There may be more urban environment particularly dangerous for children in deprived areas.
  - Children in deprived areas may have fewer opportunities to ride safely.

#### iii) These inequalities may have grown between 2014 and 2019
  
  - There may have been higher investment in least deprived areas. 
  - Cycling infrastructure in deprived areas may not be the most suitable for cyclists from these areas .ref2[(Vidal-Tortosa et al., 2021)].

---

## Discussion and conclusions

#### Further research

- Why do socioeconomic inequalities in cycling injury risk exist?
- Why are they particularly large for children?
- Why may they have increased in recent years?

---

## References

.ref2[

Edwards, P., Green, J., Lachowycz, K., Grundy, C., Roberts, I., 2008. Serious injuries in children: Variation by area deprivation and settlement type. Archives of Disease in Childhood 93, 485–489. https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2007.116541

Feleke, R., Scholes, S., Wardlaw, M., Mindell, J.S., 2018. Comparative fatality risk for different travel modes by age, sex, and deprivation. Journal of Transport & Health 8, 307–320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.08.007

Hasselberg, M., Vaez, M., Laflamme, Lucie, 2005. Socioeconomic aspects of the circumstances and consequences of car crashes among young adults. Soc. Sci. Med. 60 (2), 287–295.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.05.006

Morency, P., Gauvin, L., Plante, C., Fournier, M., Morency, C., 2012. Neighborhood social inequalities in road traffic injuries: the influence of traffic volume and road design Am, J. Public Health 102 (6), 1112–1119. 
https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300528

O’Toole, S.E., Christie, N., 2018. Deprivation and road traffic injury comparisons for 4–10 and 11–15 year-olds. Journal of Transport & Health 11, 221–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2018.08.003

Vidal Tortosa, E., Lovelace, R., Heinen, E., Mann, R.P., 2021. Cycling behaviour and socioeconomic disadvantage: an investigation based on the English National Travel Survey. Transport. Res. Pol. Pract. 152, 173–185.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2021.08.004

]
---

background-size: cover
class: inverse, center, middle,

Slides available in https://eugenividal.github.io/slides/Presentation_paper3.html

The paper was published in the Journal of Transport & Health https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214140521003212

# Thanks!

---

## Update

#### Cycling injuries by residential deprivation quintile and year (2014 - 2021)