Traffic Safety Facts : Bicyclists and Other Cyclists

James May 7, 2011 Everyone Gets Home 0

In the most recent data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration (NHTSA), there were 630 “pedalcyclist” fatalities in the U.S in 2009, which accounted for 2% of all traffic fatalities during the year. NHTSA’s report contains a wealth of other information, with the data broken down by rural / urban, intersection / non-intersection, time of day, age of victim, gender of victim and alcohol involvement.

Here are Delaware’s numbers between 1998 and 2009:

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Back in 1995, Pucher and Dijkstra calculated that the bicylist fatality rate in the United States was about 10 times the fatality rate for the occupants of light cars and trucks per mile (or kilometer) traveled. What about Delaware? In recent years, the NHTSA reports that bicyclists have been more than 3% of all traffic fatalities. But, according to the Census Bureau, only 0.3% of all commuters use a bicycle as their main means of traveling to and from their place of work. Since car/truck trips are on average longer than bicycle trips, Pucher and Dijkstra’s 10X number probably underestimates the relative risk (per mile traveled) of bicycling in Delaware in 2011.