Cycling safety in the Netherlands and Switzerland: A comparative analysis of infrastructural and other factors

Cycling is rapidly increasing worldwide. Governments are promoting cycling to improve urban sustainability by mitigating transport externalities. However, many European countries with varying levels of cycling infrastructure remain confronted with cycling crashes. This study examines differences in cycling crashes between the Netherlands and Switzerland and identifies which built environment characteristics affect the likelihood of cycling crashes.

Police reports of cycling crashes and various built environment variables were used to assess the transferability of lessons.

We found that the likelihood of cycling crashes in Switzerland is almost twice that in the Netherlands, highlighting the important role of cycling infrastructure in promoting safer cycling. The presence of public transport stops, tram tracks, and intersections is associated with a higher, statistically significant increase in crash likelihood in Switzerland. However, in the Netherlands, roundabouts are associated with a higher crash likelihood. In addition, discrepancies in crash reporting were identified: property-damage-only crashes appear underreported in Switzerland, whereas crashes involving e-bikes and S-Pedelecs are not consistently captured in Dutch data.

These findings provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners, supporting evidence-based infrastructure redesign and cross-country learning to improve cycling safety in both contexts.