Bicycle Safety | Motor Vehicle Safety
How big is the problem? Deaths and Injuries In 2015 in the United States, over
Table of Contents
How big is the problem?
Deaths and Injuries
In 2015 in the United States, over 1,000 bicyclists died and there were almost 467,000 bicycle-related injuries.3
Cost
Data from 2010 show fatal and non-fatal crash-related injuries to bicyclists resulted in lifetime medical costs and productivity losses of $10 billion.3
What are the major risk factors?
- Adults aged 50 to 59 years have the highest bicycle death rates.3
- Children (5-14 years) and adolescents (15-19 years) have the highest rates of nonfatal bicycle-related injuries, accounting for more than one-third of all bicycle-related injuries seen in U.S. emergency departments.3
- Males die 6 times more often and are injured 4 times more often on bicycles than females.3
- Most bicyclist deaths occur in urban areas and at non-intersection locations.4
- Among bicyclist deaths, 37% had alcohol involvement either for the motor vehicle driver or bicycle rider.4
How can bicycle-related injuries and deaths be prevented?
Effective Interventions
Effective interventions to reduce injuries and fatalities to bicyclists include the following:
Bicycle helmets
Bicycle helmets reduce the risk of head and brain injuries in the event of a crash.5 All bicyclists, regardless of age, can help protect themselves by wearing properly fitted bicycle helmets every time they ride.
Bicycle helmet laws
Bicycle helmet laws are effective for increasing helmet use and reducing crash-related injuries and deaths among children and adults.6
Promising Interventions
Interventions that have shown promise for reducing injuries and fatalities to bicyclists include the following:
Active lighting and rider visibility
- Fluorescent clothing can make bicyclists visible from further away than regular clothing during the daytime.6
- Retro-reflective clothing can make bicyclists more visible at night.6
- Active lighting can include front white lights, rear red lights, or other lighting on the bicycle or bicyclist. This lighting may improve the visibility of bicyclists.6
Roadway engineering measures
Information about roadway engineering measures, like bike lanes, that can improve safety for bicyclists is available from The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information CenterExternal.