Do “Drivers Hate Cyclists?”
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, AND have been telling everyone for a decade that cycling fatalities are up up UP… but today the media took notice that 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… around 2009 or so….
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… Neither the FARS data nor the IIHS data tells us 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
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 – more pedestrians and motorcyclists- 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…“
While in-car Phone use took the eyes of motorists OFF the road the car makers thought of some ways get motorists to pay more attention to the ro…er… no… Car Makers thought “Hey, I’ll be we can develop stuff INSIDE the car to cause Drivers to take their eyes off the road even MORE…” and that’s just what they did with the development of small screens, touch screens with data… then larger screens and now iPad sized screens LOADED with data where you can search the internet, update your blog or watch a movie… These CRASHERTAINMENT systems are all the rage… and serve to direct the eyes of the Driver AWAY from the road, AWAY from the dangers ahead, AWAY from seeing pedestrians and cyclists and motorcyclists on the road ahead and around them.
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 speed enforcement seems to have decreased overall…
If there is one thing we ALL 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 deaths on our streets is the new NORM!
40,000 people dying each year is about 110 people DYING as a result of CAR CRASHES…
Every
Single
Day…
This is a public health EPIDEMIC that is not being studied effectively. From 2010 to 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… Big Asphalt wants to build more lanes –
I think it is pretty obvious that 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… Many factors, most of them IN THE CAR, are at play. It’s time to figure this out…
Do drivers “hate cyclists?” Maybe some do, but many drivers are just too distracted as they speed along in their GIANT vehicles to see them and care…
Tags: bicycle, city, crash, data, fatal, injury, insurance, motorcyclists, pedestrians, shocking increase, statistics
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