Injury statistics for cyclists in California and elsewhere
Cyclists are injured in accidents in California every year. Looking at the overall statistics for these injuries in the United States, as presented by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other groups, can help to shed some light on how often these crashes take place.
First of all, the number of deaths from bike crashes has stayed roughly the same over the last decade. Looking at the deaths in 2001, it shows that there were 732, whereas there were 726 in 2012. This is a drop, though not a substantial one.
Injuries, however, have risen on a national level. In 2001, there were around 45,000 injuries, while there were 49,000 in 2012.
One number that stands out is the number of male bicyclists who were killed. A full 88 percent were male in 2012, compared to only 12 percent who were female.
Looking at these raw numbers is helpful, but it is worth noting that it is hard to determine if things are actually getting more dangerous for cyclists. One of the reasons for this is that it is difficult to know how many people are using bikes; could that number be going up due to rising awareness about environmental issues or rising gas prices? If the total number of cyclists on the road is increasing, things may not actually be more dangerous for bikers.
However, what is for certain is that there are consistent numbers of injuries and deaths that are related to bike crashes. Those who have been in a bicycle accident and who have been hurt need to know what rights they have to compensation. The Sacramento bicycle accident lawyers at Rosenthal Law can help.
Source: PedBikeInfo, “How many people are killed/injured riding bikes?” Sep. 29, 2014