More on the SI part of a KSI:
"An injury for which a person is detained in hospital as an 'in- patient', injury or any of the following injuries whether or not they are detained in hospital: fractures, concussion, internal injuries, crushings, burns (excluding friction burns), severe cuts, severe general shock requiring medical treatment and injuries causing death 30 or more days after the accident. An injured casualty is recorded as seriously or slightly injured by the police on the basis of information available within a short time of the accident. This generally will not reflect the results of a medical examination, but may be influenced according to whether the casualty is hospitalised or not. Hospitalisation procedures will vary regionally."
https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmtran/460/46004.htm
That includes quite a lot of things which are a
very long way from life-threatening, and potentially quite a lot which won't result in material pain and suffering, or time off work. It also includes minor fractures and minor concussions of the sort cyclists are quite exposed to.
I have a hunch (and it is only a hunch, and not one I'd know how to evidence) that the serious injury statistics, especially for cyclists, are quite inflated. First because I suspect the police err on the side of caution, especially where vulnerable road users are concerned, and second because while Labour's entirely laudable 4-hour target for admissions from A&E was still realistic the easy way for hospitals to meet it was to admit people who didn't really need admission.
That second, by the way, isn't a conspiracy theory - it actually happened to someone I know well. After being knocked off her bike and taken to A&E the doctors didn't get around to her, having a number of more urgent cases to attend to. The hospital preferred to "admit" her to a ward (to sit on the chair by the side of the made-up bed) rather than risk breaking their A&E target.