bikecommuter99

What are the main causes of Biking Fatalities?

"Tell me where I’m going to die, so I don’t go there"

Thanks.

dynodonn 

Our last two cyclist fatalities were from running a stop sign at full speed and riding in the middle of the freeway with no lights and with one small red rear reflector on a stormy winter night. I'm not sure what are the main causes of cyclist fatalities in my area are, but if you at least eliminate the two above scenarios, a cyclist has a good chance to living a long life in our village.

Bekologist

If you can, find and take a League of American Bicyclists Traffic Skills 101 bicycling course near you.

League of American Bicyclists

Best weekend anyone can spend improving personal bicycling safety.

bike riding tips from the LAB

If you can't find a nearby class, get a copy of their bike education DVD "enjoy the ride" - a darn good primer on safe riding.

join a local club, go out on some coffeeshop rides, hook up with a riding mentor.....

CB HI

There have been two main causes of cyclist deaths in Hawaii:

#1 tourist not well experienced in cycling riding down Haleakala
https://www.bikemaui.com/Haleakala-express-tour.php

#2 DUI and distracted drivers

Chris516

The only thing I would add to all those good points is, along with tourists' not being experienced, even some local cyclists' not being experienced.

Also, The 'wrong-way ninja' morons

B. Carfree

I'd be quite surprised if the main cause of cycling fatalities isn't a collision with a motor vehicle.

Chris516

Well, That predominantly, would be the ultimate cause, both individually, and collectively.

But, Think about a cyclist's actions between the time they get on their bike, and when they get hit by a motor vehicle. (thinking) I am not trying to nit-pick with your answer. Just wondering about going more in depth in your answer.

kjmillig

Driver inattention
Rider inattention
Rider not following rules of the road, either by not knowing them or ignoring them.
Driver not following rules of the road for same reasons as above.
Intersection of motor vehicle and bicycle
Intersection of bicycle and stationary object

B. Carfree

I was just having some fun. Of course there is always at least one party that has broken the law when a collision occurs. Add in the contributory factors of poor motorist education, poor cyclist education, crappy engineering, lax enforcement standards and ridiculously large motor vehicles whose primary function is transporting one person a short distance and we've got a real mess. I suppose it does matter what proportion of cycling fatalities involve drunk salmon ninjas, but since very few folks who post here are likely to ride drunk, ninja or wrong-way, those deaths are not relevant to us.

However, if we could remove the drunk/intoxicated, cell-phoning/texting and repeat-offender violators of the law from the road, the death rate for all road users, not just cyclists, would clearly drop by a large percentage. That's something that only legislatures and law enforcement can do, but they won't do it unless we are in their face pushing them to act, and even then I am not optimistic.

DX-MAN

This is MAJOR when you're trying to find causes and contributing factors. I can only add:

Near-dawn/dusk riding on low-traffic roads, which for some reason makes drivers think 'not seeing' is an excuse; the rider is on a ride, lit up or not, and the driver comes around a curve/over a rise/close to the rider, and the glare of the low sun makes the road virtually disappear... yet they don't feel the need to slow down. Result: death and a pretzeled road bike, and nothing more than the possibility of a traffic ticket.

unterhausen

Also remove legally blind drivers

Occasionally a dangerous driver causes a fatality, and their multitude of speeding tickets and other incidents is revealed to us. Unfortunately, this usually only strikes home with the victim's friends and family and not society as a whole. The truth is, there are a very few drivers that could be removed from the roads and then we would all be a lot safer. The state could be more proactive in stopping these people from driving, but as you say, there is no political will to do so.

nelson249

In my neck of the woods the pattern seems to be cyclists riding down the road at night in dark clothes with no lights.

genec

OK I see where you are going... the cyclist is responsible for riding in a good, safe, and defensive manner... all well and good, so take "good practices" out of the equation, and I bet you are still left with "collision with a motor vehicle" as the number one cause of cyclist fatalities. Of course we'd all have to agree as to "good, safe, and defensive manner." (good luck with that)

AlmostTrick

I'd say it usually takes two parties to f' up for most collisions. One to do something stupid/illegal, and the other to not notice and correct for it. Ride smart and pay attention and you'll be ok.

genec

If that... motorists are rarely even given the simplest ticket, even in the event of a cyclist fatality... unless alcohol is involved. (thank you MADD)

genec

Yeah, one party being there doing the right thing and one party right there doing the wrong thing. As much as you may want to think you can avoid all bad situations... that is a pretty high bar to set. Just obeying the traffic law (for all parties) would go a long way to preventing must collisions. Quite often speed and/or distraction are key elements in a collision.

Bekologist

From esteemed bicycling author and deconstructionist Jeffery Hiles,

jeffery hiles on bike statistics

Notes on mitigating collisions and crashes involving you or you and another vehicle:

(from the League of American Bicyclists)

1) Follow the rules of the road.
2) Be visible.
3) Be predictable.
4) Anticipate conflicts.
5) Wear a helmet.

and i would add #6
6) use a mirror.

sound advice for a rider concerned about roadway safety

AlmostTrick

No one said anything about avoiding ALL situations... of course that is not possible. Still, I'm pretty sure you've avoided many crashes that would have been attributed to someone else's mistake, just by paying attention and correcting for it. By the same token, there are times cyclists make mistakes and motorists cover it by paying attention and correcting.

gpsblake

Driver not seeing the bicyclist. Sometimes the fault of the car (distracted, drunk, etc), sometimes the fault of the cyclist (running stop signs, riding the wrong way etc)

Chris516

Yes, Ultimately the collision with the motor vehicle. But I was thinking of contributory factors prior to the collision.

Chris516

x1000

RobertHurst

A bicyclist can not "be visible." That is absurd. Whether or not a bicyclist is seen depends ultimately on the person doing the seeing. After all, the driver in question may not even be watching the road. How can you "be visible" to a driver who is looking the other way? The answer is, you just aren't, and there's nothing you can do about it. But you can still be ready and safe with the proper mindset, even around drivers who aren't watching the road at all.

I've been beating this dead horse for many years now. I wrote a book all about it. But it's still true. And the most important safety tip still isn't on that list. By far the best way to avoid collision with motor vehicles (and still ride the streets) is to prepare yourself to be overlooked by any driver (and pedestrian) along the route, and to be one step ahead when the overlooking occurs, instead of surprised. "Be visible!" Still pointless advice after all these years.

You can't "be visible." Once you understand that you'll unlock a whole new level of safety.

buzzman

Well said.

mechBgon

I disagree. Maybe it could be better worded as "avoid being nearly impossible to see until point-blank range." As a concrete example of "be visible," we have a local road-race series on Tuesday evenings. Some racers ride to the race, do their racing, then ride home. Some trust to dumb luck to get home in the dusk and darkness. Others clip on their SuperFlash, their headlight and slap on a reflective legband. That's "be visible," or "don't be invisible," whichever way you want to look at it. The core concept is that most people will avoid collision if they're given a fair chance. Using good visibility equipment gives them that chance, so put it to work for you.

Like this:



It would be pretty tough to get within 500 meters from the rear without noticing these, even in daylight. And this level of power is now mainstream at $35 with the Cygolite Hotshot, which is the size and weight of a SuperFlash at around 65 grams. I can also vouch for the difficulty of ignoring even a small flashing front light like a 1W Planet Bike Blaze in its Superflash mode. It draws the eye. So does neon-lime riding gear, and moving reflective legbands in darkness. Can they positively GUARANTEE you'll be noticed? No. Still, I see so many cyclists who seem to be trying for the opposite effect of being very difficult to notice even by someone who's trying.

As for your assume-the-worst alternative, it's already covered by "anticipate conflicts," I think. Defensive driving, or whatever we choose to call it.

Bekologist

I strongly suspect Robert uses lights at night. maybe not.

you can be 'more likely to be noticed' if not necessarily 'visible' using lights and high viz clothing. what a useless semantics grouse. coz robert is right, if a driver is totally not looking, you won't be visible.

And personally, I've been overlooked by drivers not looking.

Why the tired curmudgeon jive, disparaging and dismissing the positive effects being visible to a rider asking about bicyclist safety?

BTW , the LAB has 'prepare to be overlooked' diatribe covered with their 'anticipate conflicts' advice.

'prepare to be overlooked' suggests proactively using bright flashing bicycle lights to cut down on frequency of the 'being overlooked' scenario.

Daytime visible front lights have been reported by many riders to cut down on traffic conflicts. LED rear lights arguably make a rider more visible to vehicles despite the grousing about riders being unable to make themselves more visible to traffic using lights and high visible and reflective clothing.