The behavior of bicyclists in frontal and rear crash accidents with cars

Our previous report concerned an analysis of bicyclists struck laterally by cars, which is the most fatal type of accident. The current study compares the behavior of bicyclists struck frontally and from the rear by cars. Comparatively few bicyclist fatalities occur in frontal crash accidents. The comparison is based on accident analysis and MADYMO simulations using a humanlike model. Bicyclist impact behavior was made clear on the basis of computer simulations. It was found that the initial impact between a bicyclist's knee and the vehicle front structure is very important in reducing the impact velocity of the bicyclist's head.