page_title: Cycling in Copenhagen
section_title: Safety
hierarchical_section_title: Cycling in Copenhagen / Infrastructure / Cycle tracks / Safety
caption_attribution_description: Standard design of Copenhagen cross roads about 2000 with one common lane (the term shared lane was not yet invented) as cycle track and for turning right cars
context_page_description: Cycling in Copenhagen is – as with most cycling in Denmark – an important means of transportation and a dominating feature of the cityscape, often noticed by visitors. The city offers a variety of favourable cycling conditions — dense urban proximities, short distances and flat terrain — along with an extensive and well-designed system of cycle tracks. This has earned it a reputation as one of the most—possibly the most—bicycle-friendly city in the world. Every day 1.2 million kilometres are cycled in Copenhagen, with 62% of all citizens commuting to work, school or university by bicycle; in fact, almost as many people commute by bicycle in greater Copenhagen as do those who cycle to work in the entire United States. Cycling is generally perceived as a healthier, more environmentally friendly, cheaper, and often quicker way to get around town than by public transport or car.
context_section_description: While installation of a new cycle track in the city decreases the number of accidents along the cycle track itself beyond the expected number of accidents, a study of newly installed bicycle tracks in Copenhagen actually showed, taking into account correction factors for crash trends, traffic volumes and regression-to-the-mean, that the number of accidents increased by 9% compared to the expected number of accidents  (without new cycle path). There was a significant increase of accidents in intersections following the installation of cycle tracks at intersections. However, since the number of bicyclists increased by 18–20% following installation of the cycle tracks, individual accident rates actually dropped when bicycle infrastructure was added. Since its publication, the city has used the conclusions of the report to improve safety in intersections. Notable improvements include rebuilding dangerous intersections, pulling back stop lines for cars to improve visibility of cyclists, and expanding the use of bicycle traffic lights, to give pre-greens for cyclists. Overall there were 92 cyclists involved serious injury and 3 deaths in 2010, down from 252 incidents in 1996, when the city began a concerted effort to bring down the number of injuries. A cyclist will now on average cycle 4.4 million kilometres (2.7 million miles) before being involved in a serious accident.
caption: To reduce crashes caused by car drivers turning right without yielding to cyclists on their right (right hooks), the cycle track sometimes merges with the lane for cars turning right before intersections.
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