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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations

Report
This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-04-103
Date: October 2004

Characteristics of Emerging Road and Trail Users and Their Safety

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APPENDIX

State Crash Form Coordinator Survey

FHWA has funded a research project to determine the safety and operational characteristics of newer or emerging users of our Nation's roadways and trails. These include persons using inline skates, scooters, strollers, electric bicycles, adult tricycles, recumbents, tandems, trailers, golf carts, and assisting technologies such as electric scooters and motorized wheelchairs. As part of the project, we are trying to identify which States collect motor vehicle crash data on some or all of these various user groups.

We obtained your name and contact information from NHTSA's State Crash Forms Catalogue Web site: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/perform/trafrecords/crash/pages/coordinators.htm.

We would very much appreciate your taking a few minutes to provide us updated information on crash data collected by your State. Responses can be entered directly into the e-mail using the "Reply" feature. Alternatively, the e-mail can be printed and responses faxed to [contractor fax], attention [contractor contact]. If someone else can better respond to this e-mail, please forward it to them. If you have any comments or questions, please call [additional contractor contact] at [additional contractor fax].

Thank you very much for your assistance. Below are our three questions. We look forward to hearing from you.

1. Please identify which, if any, of the following user groups can be identified on your computerized crash database:

Yes No

__ __ Inline skates

__ __ Skateboards

__ __ Scooters (nonmotorized)

__ __ Scooters (motorized) 2a. Does your State computerize any narrative description of the crash, either full descriptions or key words? 2b. If so, is there a way to search this database to identify potentially relevant crash reports (involving the above users)?

__ Nonstandard bicycle types (recumbents, electric, tandems)
__ Adult tricycles
__ Hand cycles
__ Bicycle trailers
__ Golf carts
__ Wheelchairs (manual or powered)
__ Assistive powered scooters
__ Racing wheelchairs

3. Are you aware of any efforts in your State to use available crash data to study the safety of any of these emerging user groups (not including standard bicycles)?

Thank you very much for taking time to answer these questions. If you have any additional comments, please include them below.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was funded by FHWA. Ms. Ann Do is the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative. The authors would like to thank the many research staff, FHWA staff, and volunteers who assisted with or participated in the data collection events in California, Florida, and Maryland (figure 55). The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of FHWA.

Figure 55: Photo. Many volunteers assisted with the "Ride for Science" events. Two event staff people are at a table talking to an inline skater at the table. Figure 56: Photo. Many volunteers participated in the "Ride for Science" events. A participant is riding his bicycle on a trail.
Figure 55. Many volunteers assisted with the "Ride for Science" events Figure 56. Many volunteers participated in the "Ride for Science" events.

 

REFERENCES

  1. Russell, N.J., G.E. Hendershot, F. LeClere, et al. Trends and Differential Use of Assistive Technology Devices: United States, 1994. Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics, No. 292, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD, 1997.

  2. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC, 1999.

  3. National Museum of Roller Skating (NMRS), various Web pages. www.rollerskatingmuseum.com. Accessed April 23, 2002.

  4. Mathis, K. Inline Skating Still a Growth Leader. May 8, 1998. www.iisa.org/releases/980508-growth.htm. Accessed March 18, 2000.

  5. International Inline Skating Association (IISA), "Inline Skating Facts & Figures." www.iisa.org/numbers/index.htm. Accessed March 18, 2000.

  6. American Sports Data, Inc. Press Release, April 1, 2001. www.americansportsdata.com. Accessed April 23, 2002.

  7. Osberg, J. S., S. Faul, J. Poole, and J. McHenry. Skating: An Emerging Mode of Transportation. Presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, January 10-14, 2000.

  8. Birriel, E., J.C. Pernia, J.J. Lu, and T.A. Petritsch. The Operational Characteristics of Inline Skaters. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, January 2001.

  9. Osberg, J.S., and S.C. Stiles. Safety Behavior of In-line Skaters. Injury Prevention, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2000, pp. 229-231.

  10. Rutherford, Jr. G. W. and R. Ingle. Unpowered Scooter-Related Injuries-United States, 1998-2000. CDC MMWR Weekly, Vol. 49, No. 49, December 15, 2000, pp. 1108-1110. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4949a2.htm. Accessed August 10, 2001.

  11. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Motorized scooter use increases and injuries climb. Press release, August 22, 2001. www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml01/01222.html

  12. Jana, L. Practical Stroller Safety Tips. www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5222,00.html. Accessed August 14, 2001.

  13. Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association. Carriage and Stroller Safety Remains Important. www.jpma.org/public/pr-043099.html. Accessed August 14, 2001.

  14. Electric-Bikes.com. www.electric-bikes.com/others.htm. Accessed August 10, 2001.

  15. State of Florida. The 2000 Florida Statutes. Title XXIII, Section 316.1995. Online Sunshine, www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Index&Title_Request=IV. Accessed August 14, 2001.

  16. Recumbents.com. www.recumbents.com. Accessed April 24, 2002.

  17. Stamford, B. Child Carriers: Tips for Runners, Bikers, and Hikers. The Physician and Sports Medicine, Vol. 26, No. 11, November 1998. www.physsportsmed.com/issues/1998/11nov/carriers.htm. Accessed August 14, 2001.

  18. WIKE Ultralights. Bicycle Trailer Safety. www.wicycle.com/safety.htm. Accessed August 14, 2001.

  19. Segway, LLC home page. www.segway.com. Accessed May 2, 2002.

  20. Powell E.C. and R.R. Stanz. Tykes and bikes: injuries associated with bicycle-towed child trailers and bicycle-mounted child seats. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Vol. 155, No. 4, 2001, p. 525.

  21. Rodgers, G.E. Bicycle Use and Hazard Patterns in the United States, and Options for Injury Reduction. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC, 1993.

  22. Schieber, R.A. and C.M. Branche-Dorsey. In-line skating injuries: epidemiology and recommendations for prevention. Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol. 19, No. 6, 1995, pp. 427-432.

  23. Kirby, R.L. and S.A. Ackroyd-Stolarz. Wheelchair safety-adverse reports to the United States Food and Drug Administration. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 74, No. 4, 1995, pp. 308-312.

  24. American College of Surgeons. National Trauma Data Bank Report 2001. Chicago, IL: American College of Surgeons, 2001. www.facs.org/ntdbreport2001/summary.html.

  25. National Pediatric Trauma Registry. Characteristics and Technical Highlights. Boston, MA: Tufts-New England Medical Center. www.nptr.org.

  26. Transportation Research Board. Highway Capacity Manual 2000. Transportation Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, 2000.

  27. Botma, H. Method to Determine Levels of Service for Bicycle Paths and Pedestrian-Bicycle Paths. Transportation Research Record 743, 1995, pp. 30-37.

  28. Brown, D.J. Testing and Analysis of In-line Skating in Relation to Motor Vehicular Traffic. Accident Reconstruction Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2000, pp. 18-22.

  29. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets. (commonly referred to as "Green Book") American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC, 2001.

  30. Johansson, G. and Rumar, K. Driver's Brake Reaction Times. Human Factors, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1971, pp. 23-27.

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