We’re seeing a lot of similar headlines in the news today… No surprise here since we research and track these things, and write about them… but the US is seeing an “alarming rash of crashes” – FATAL Car v Bike crashes…
Why?
Well, there are no solid answers. Starting with 1975, the year the MOST cyclist were killed until recently, data showed that fatal cycling crashes DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY each decade… so few cyclists were killed annually in the 80s than the 70s… fewer in the 90s than the 80s, fewer in the 2000s than the 90s… but…then…
SOMETHING … happened…
IIHS Bike crash data recently added 2023 data here – https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/fatality-statistics/detail/bicyclists – In fact, you can see numbers dating back to 1975 on the IIHS page.
NHTSA/USDOT published “FARS” data – FARS data is a nationwide collection of data managed by the NHTSA containing records on all fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes occurring on public roadways in the U.S..
FARS basically sucks in ALL the crash report data from all reports in all 50 states – tallies up the various categories and gives us an annual snapshot of what is happening… FARS does NOT tell us not WHY things are happening, but data/numbers give us some clues…
If you look at the FARS data you see a clear line of demarcation around 2009-2010. After several DECADES of decreasing numbers of cyclists killed, we started seeing shocking, significant increases not only in the number of cyclists killed on the road, but also the number of pedestrians killed, and the number of motorcyclists killed!
2007 – 718 Cyclists Killed
2008 – 628
2009 – 623 – Lowest number in 35 years!
2010 – 682
2011 – 734
After 2011 the number never went below 734-
2020 948 cyclists killed
2021 976
2022 1117
2023 1166
2022 was the first year since 1975 that we saw more than 1000 cyclists killed on the road… seems like that is now the “trend” not an aberration.
The WHY remains … partly cloudy.
Did cyclists just forget how to ride safely around 2010 and just start jumping in front of moving cars?
Did pedestrians and motorcyclists simultaneously started walking carelessly and recklessly operating their motorcycles? I dunno, but that seems… unlikely…
Maybe there are just MORE of everything – more motorists – more cyclists – and but not more SPACE?
Maybe motorists … hear me out… started enjoying the fruits of modern technology and became more and more distracted?
That 2009-2010 line of demarcation is interesting to me… a few other seismic cultural events were also occurring around that time… any guesses?
Well, the iPhone came out around 2007-2008 and took the world by storm…Then, Facebook and other social media apps fired up and… took the world by storm… and then phones got SMART…
When the phone became SMART-er I’m wondering if drivers became DUMB-er? More distracted… less in tune to the fact that 2 ton death machines they were operating could easily kill and maim with just one SECOND of inattention…
After Smart phones drivers could be like: “Gee, lookee there – I can use my phone to get a map to where I’m going – or maybe review the menu at the restaurant – or maybe see what time the movie starts… Oh Look a FAX is coming in… HEY LOOK that’s a cute thing I should take a photo of and post to my social media… WAIT LOOKEE ME…LOOKEE MEEEEE I’m LIVE ONLINE & I AM DRIVING MY CAR WOOO WOOO…“
OH and let’s not forget another cultural milestone… the birth of the HUUUUUUUGE SuperTall Super Wide Super Heavy SUV/Truck… Super large vehicles replaced their smaller shorter forefathers… and heavy tall vehicles kill and maim a lot more efficiently than shorter lighter vehicles…
Another phenomenon came during the past few years as vehicle SPEEDS have increased… people want to go FASTER – Tickets for traveling 100+ mph are at record levels while enforcement seems to have decreased overall…
If there is one thing we know pretty well – SPEED KILLS – and HEAVY SPEEDY vehicles KILL even better…
There are a lot of moving parts here, but serious independent STUDY is needed. Almost 41,000 people were killed on USA roads in 2022. 40,000 is the new NORM. 40,000 people per year is about 110 people …
Every
Single
Day…
This is an EPIDEMIC that is not being studied effectively. From 20 to10 2023 traffic fatalities of cyclists have gone from 623 to 1166 – an increase of an absolutely SHOCKING 87%. For pedestrians, we saw 4302 killed in traffic in 2010 and 7314 in 2023, an increase of 3000+, more than 70%. While different factors influence motorcycle fatalities, we have seen a jump there too – from 4518 in 2010 to 6335 in 2023, a 40% increase.
Parties with skin in the game want to give answers… motorists want cyclists OFF the road, some cycling advocates want MORE cyclists ON the roads in different flavors of cycling infrastructure… people did NOT forget how to ride a bike, pilot a motorcycle or WALK all of a sudden… the most vulnerable users of the public ways are being killed and maimed in shockingly high numbers…
Do drivers “hate cyclists?” Maybe some do, but many drivers are just too distracted to see them and care…
Tags: bicycle, city, crash, data, fatal, injury, insurance, motorcyclists, pedestrians, shocking increase, statistics
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