Who: under 18s
Under-18s comprise 15% of cyclist casualties in Surrey and 18% of those in Great Britain
The following charts show some context for under-18 cyclist casualties. They comprise 15% of all casualties in Surrey compared to 18% of GB casualties that are under 18. The proportion of Surrey casualties who are under 18 varies a little year to year. A smaller proportion of under 18’s than over 18’s are seriously injured.
13% of under 18 casualties in Surrey are female, similar to the proportion for all age groups for the County.
There is some variation of each individual age from year to year but, given the relatively small numbers, it is difficult to conclude a rising or falling trend for any one age. The who page showed that by 14 years of age, the number of casualties is at the level of other ages through to casualties who are in their 50’s.
At least one in four under-18 casualties are on the school journey
The background to the ‘journey purpose’ category was introduced on the when page. The table below shows journey purpose for the under 18 age group.
80.7% of casualties aged under 18 are injured on a weekday. The graph below shows the time of day, divided into weekdays and weekends and journey purpose. The proportion of under 18s injured on a weekday is higher than for all ages. Looking at the peaks of the ‘unknown’ category, some of them may also be school journeys. ‘Other’ shows a weekday late afternoon peak.
Although under 18 casualties are a relatively small proportion of all casualties, the map is a reminder that they are still numerous. Casualties from 01 January, 2008 to 31 December, 2024 are shown on the map.
| Journey Purpose | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Other | 44.9% |
| Pupil riding to/from school | 25.7% |
| Not known | 23.7% |
| Journey as part of work | 2.4% |
| Commuting to/from work | 1.7% |
| Taking pupil to/from school | 1.7% |
| Note: | |
| Casualties from 01 January, 2008 to 31 December, 2024 |
54% of casualties aged under 18 are in “Level 2”-type environments in Surrey, 57% in Great Britain
This section is designed to inform the County’s cycle training programme. Surrey works within a national framework but the national framework has not recently been reviewed against casualty patterns. There is no provision within stats19 to record whether or not a casualty has undertaken cycle training.
“Bikeability Level 2” cycle training teaches independent cycling on quieter roads that have some traffic. In Surrey, it is generally delivered to 10 year-old pupils. As can be seen above, there are few casualties at 10 years of age but by the age of 14, casualties are at a similar level to other age groups.
This section look at the proportion of cycling casualties that are in environments that approximate to type used for Level 2 training. In this way, it groups together some of the individual environments shown on the Where page.
Casualties in the following categories - approximating to Bikeability “Level 3” environments - are removed, ie:
- dual carriageways
- speed limit above 30 mph
- slip roads
- automatic traffic signals
- ‘A’ roads
- junctions of ‘A’ roads with other roads
- at night
so that those remaining were riding in the type of environments that are typically used to achieve Level 2 skills, see the data tables page for a breakdown. This is an approximation because Level 2 environments are defined by traffic speed, volume and mix along with junction complexity.
In Surrey, 1,181 cyclist casualties are aged under 18. After removing the ‘Level 3’ variables, 640 casualties remain, meaning that 54% of casualties aged under 18 are injured cycling in Level 2-type environments.
For Great Britain, 51,561 cyclist casualties are aged under 18. After removing the ‘Level 3’ variables, 29,369 casualties remain, meaning that 57% of casualties aged under 18 are injured cycling in Level 2-type environments.
34% of casualties aged 18 or over are in “Level 2”-type environments in Surrey, 32% in Great Britain
For Surrey, 6951 cyclist casualties are aged 18 or over. After removing the ‘Level 3’ variables, 2337 casualties remain, meaning that 34% of casualties aged 18 or over are injured cycling in Level 2-type environments.
For Great Britain, 231535 cyclist casualties are aged 18 or over. After removing the ‘Level 3’ variables, 73612 casualties remain, meaning that 32% of casualties aged 18 or over are injured cycling in Level 2-type environments.
The age of 16 is when the majority of casualties start occurring in “Level 3”-type environments, for both Surrey and Great Britain
The following charts break down the above categories by age. Surrey and Great Britain have a very similar pattern, with ‘Level 2’ type roads the main casualty environment under 16:
