Cyclists Deaths Up, Injuries Way Up, According to NHTSA report

The NHTSA released the latest Traffic Safety Facts report and bicycle fatalities were up 2 percent. The Post has a statement from LAB

Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, pointed to the competition for road space and distracted drivers as causes for the uptick in fatalities.

Clarke said the number of bike deaths has fluctuated over the years.

"While the increase is regrettable, it hasn't set off any alarm bells," Clarke said. "We're not in the same situation as the motorcycle community, where there's been a steady increase."

Digging deeper in the fact sheet. Deaths among the poorly named Pedalcyclists (includes people on bikes, trikes, unicycles, big wheels etc...) group is up 2.1% and injuries are up a shocking 21% between 2007 and 2008.

What's missing in the fact sheet is the change in bicycle miles traveled. A lot of news reports last year pointed to empirical evidence that cycling was on the rise. So if bicycling miles doubled and deaths went up by 2.1% then that might be a good sign. But if miles traveled stayed flat, that would be bad news. The NHTSA do a good job of breaking down automobile deaths and injuries by VMT, but they don't provide any sense of the denominator for any other class. Nor do they provide helmet stats, cyclist alcohol stats or number of crashes - like they do for auto crashes (for auto crashes they give seat belt data but not helmet data obviously).

There is a report that goes withe the fact sheet - (here's the 2006 one). What the report adds is to break down deaths as a percentage of the population, by age and sex; by location (only half as often in intersections than in nonintersections - page 149) and deaths by time of day. They report they types of vehicles that kill cyclists - mostly passenger cars and light trucks. They also track causes (related factors) but they don't seem to tell us which person - cyclist or driver - was responsible. For example, the #1 related factor is "Failure to yield right of way" but we don't know who failed to yield, so that's less useful than it could be.

You can find some alcohol information in third report "Bicyclists and Other Cyclists."

In 33 percent of the crashes, either the driver or the cyclist was reported to have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher. Lower alcohol levels (BAC .01 to .07 g/dL) were reported in an additional 10 percent of crashes. Over one-fourth (31%) of the pedalcyclists killed had a BAC of .01 g/dL or higher, and nearly one-fourth (25%) had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher.

But we don't know what percentage of drivers has a high BAC (more than 8% and less than 33%). It also reports fatalities by state. There's also a pedestrian report.

Regardless of the change in deaths per BMT, which is unknown, I think everyone would like to see fewer deaths and would agree that the increase in injuries is somewhat alarming (it's higher than it's been since '98 but still well below the levels in the 80's).  

Comments

[Lee Watkins]

I was kind of expecting this. Car reposessions are WAY UP. Automobile vehicle miles traveled is WAY DOWN. The unemployment is hitting double digits. So loads of people are being priced out of automobile transport... that means loads of people breaking out their dusty old bicycles who can hardly remember how to ride them - and hitting the road (or sidewalk).

Also, accidents always go up during times of crisis, economic or otherwise. Lots of people loosing their jobs & houses, they are displaced from the routes and locations they are familiar with, so on. People drink more, etc.

But considering how many people have stopped driving, I wouldn't be surprised if it's actually a bit safer biking now because, obviously there are fewer cars on the road and more bikes.

[Mark]

I would avoid drawing any broad conclusions about cycling trends just based on the NHTSA report. There is a pervasive data collection problem--especially when it comes to bicyclists and pedestrian deaths and injuries. The problem starts at the local level with law enforcement, which tends to have trouble getting accurate information on a crash report. That assumes a report is even filed after you get hit by a driver. Or you take yourself out while riding. Or you get doored. Lots of these incidents are not counted, or are recorded inaccurately. Some states are beginning to remedy this, and as a result, one state's accurate reporting can hugely skew the national numbers. The good news is that bigger cities are better at counting cyclists and their numbers tell us that the injury rate is dropping even as exposure is increasing.
Bottom line: NHTSA is all about helmets, seatbelts, and drunk driving.

[robert dimond]

I will never forget my first experience with death. I was eight years old when a good friend of mine, in my class, was killed on a bicycle right in front of our school. His picture was on the front page of the Washington Times Herald. I kept that page and it haunted me. I had to go to the accident site and stare at the stain on the street. The article said the driver of the car did not see the bicycle because it had no lights. What a shame. What a waste. Bicycle lights are so inexpensive. A little boy's life is priceless. You can get what you need for your little boy's bike online.