Risk of road traffic injuries for pedestrians, cyclists, car occupants and powered two-wheel users, based on a road trauma registry and travel surveys, Rhône, France

We estimate the risk of traffic injuries as the ratio of amount of casualties and mobility. Crash data come from a road trauma Registry, including outpatients and inpatients, on the Rhône county (1.6 M inhabitants, including Lyon). These data are far more complete than police data, in particular for cyclist crashes. Mobility comes from travel surveys. Compared with car occupants and with regards to time spent travelling, the all-injury rate was twice lower for pedestrians, 8 times higher for cyclists, and 42 times higher for powered two-wheel (PTW) riders. For serious injuries, compared to car occupants, the risk is respectively 2, 16 and 120 times higher for pedestrians, cyclists and PTW users. For car occupants, pedestrians and cyclists, the age group 18-25 years had the highest all-injury rate. For cyclists, the injury rates seemed higher in non-dense areas than in dense areas. Between 1996-1997 and 2005-2006 and with regards to time spent travelling, the all-injury, and serious-injury rates seems to have decreased for car occupants and cyclists, and even more so for cyclists.