Walking and bicycling are considered desirable activities for many reasons, e.g. improved public health and environmental friendliness. Nevertheless, in Sweden more than 4,000 people require in-patient care each year after sustaining injuries due to single incidents while cycling or walking in a traffic environment, e.g. falling or slipping on icy and snowy surfaces (Berntman & Modén, 2006). The majority of these injuries are classified as minor or of moderate character, but they account for a considerable proportion of in-patient care. Furthermore, even minor and moderate injuries can lead to severe and long-term consequences for the individuals and may have implications on their everyday life, e.g. limited mobility and economic loss. It is therefore, of vital importance to Issue 1 2012 2 prevent these injuries as part of efficient and systematic community safety work. Research about injuries in the traffic environment has mostly focused on injuries related to motor vehicles (see e.g. Reynolds et al., 2009). Single injury incidents among pedestrians and bicyclists are less noticed than those involving motor vehicles; in particular falls among pedestrians (Björnstig et al., 1997; Öberg, 2011) and single incidents among bicyclists (Nyberg et al., 1997; Öberg et al., 1996). A reason for this may be that single incidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists are rarely reported in official traffic statistics (Björnstig & Björnstig, 2000b; Öberg et al., 1996). However, there are studies focusing on single incidents in relation to seasonal variations and living in a cold climate. Different kinds of shoes and anti-skid devices among pedestrians have been an issue in a number of studies (e.g. Berggård & Johansson, 2010; Gao, et al., 2004; Gao et al., 2008; Gard & Lundborg, 2001; McKiernan, 2005).
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