31% increase in people treated in hospital after cycling accidents
HALTON and Warrington hospitals experienced one of the biggest jumps in cyclists being treated in hospital due to accidents last year.
Data obtained by the Weekly News revealed there were 117 patients seen at the two sites in 2016-17, up from 89 in 2015-16, equating to a 31.46% hike.
The increase means the number of admissions relating to cycling accidents accounted for 0.14% of all admissions at the two sites, up from 0.11% the previous year.
Warrington and Halton hospitals have an accident and emergency unit and an urgent care centre between them for treating injuries.
The data was published by NHS Digital.
The figures revealed there were 16,680 injuries to cyclists in England that needed hospital treat- ● ment in 2016-17.
Admissions across the country increased by 2% compared to 16,369 in 2015-16.
According to Department For Transport data, there were 18,477 cyclists injured in road accidents, including 3,499 who were killed or seriously injured.
These figures only include cyclists killed or injured in road accidents that were reported to the police but not all cyclist casualties are reported to the police, even when the cyclist is taken to hospital.
According to The Royal Society For The Prevention Of Accidents, the majority of cyclist casualties are adults, with approximately 10% being children.
Cycling accidents increase as children grow older, with 10 to 15 year old riders being more at risk than other age groups, including adults until about the age of 60 years.