KEY POINTS:
A third of cyclists have been involved in at least one accident in the past year, a study suggests.
But researchers say cyclists could reduce their crash risks by almost 80 per cent simply by wearing fluorescent clothing.
"Mostly what we know about cycle crashes are those that result in presentation to a healthcare professional, where it gets coded in some sort of official form," said one of the researchers, Simon Thornley from Auckland University's School of Population Health. "We were interested in more trivial crashes that may put people off cycling.
"The data that we collect routinely about cycle crashes is really the tip of the iceberg. If those are the ones that end up being reported to healthcare professionals, then there's likely to be a whole load more cycle crashes which probably put people off using their bikes."
Land Transport statistics show that in 2005, 12 cyclists were killed and 751 were injured on New Zealand roads.
For his study, Dr Thornley and colleague Alistair Woodward surveyed nearly 2500 cyclists taking part in the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge last year.
Of those surveyed, 759 had had at least one accident while cycling in the previous year. A third of those accidents required the attention of a doctor and an average 0.4 days off work during the year.
The survey found that cyclists favouring fluorescent colours had significantly fewer crashes and also required less time off work.
"The low visibility of cyclists is a major contributor to crash-related injury," said Dr Thornley.
"Simply by wearing fluorescent clothing, cyclists can markedly increase their visibility and reduce the likelihood of crashes by 77 per cent."
Previous studies by Dr Thornley have found that New Zealand has relatively high rates of cyclist injuries compared with other countries.
He believed this to be largely down to cycling being a more common practice elsewhere.
"In other countries where cycling is much more common, and a more integrated and accepted form of transport, the risk of injury is much, much lower."
