Comments on: Why Every Bicycle Counts and What We Can Learn from Fatal Crashes

By: Triathlon

Triathlon — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:18:49 +0000

Triathlon…

[...]Bikeleague.org Blog » Blog Archive » Why Every Bicycle Counts and What We Can Learn from Fatal Crashes[...]…

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:53:51 +0000

The article states “… We were surprised to learn that more than a third (35%) of cyclists killed were hit from behind. This is a considerably higher share than we had previously thought. …”.

This should not be a surprise at all. is not a new phenomena. The classic major US study is Bicycle and Pedestrian Crash Types of the Early 1990′s (FHWA-RD-95-163, all 9 MB of it available online). Of their 85 crash types, 5 (6 including “Type unknown”) are in the “Class D: Motorist overtaking bicyclist”. They compared their data to the 1977 Cross and Fisher study and for this class of crashes:

1977 study, Total Fatal=166 of which 37.8% were motorist overtaking, Total Nonfatal=753 of which 10.5% were overtaking
1990′s study, Total Fatal=41 of which 29.3% were motorist overtaking, Total Nonfatal=2453 of which 9.8% were overtaking.

Starting in 2010, the FARS (NHSTA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System) data added the PBCAT (Pedestrian and Bicyclist Crash Analysis Tool) data which reveals the bicycle crash type. You can easily do tabulations on NHSTA’s site. Motorist Overtaking Bicyclist total 43+21+14+77= 155 of 626 fatalities. 155 / 626 = 24.76% of all bicyclist fatalities in 2010. One reason the LAB’s smaller series derived from media reports may be due to such overtaking crashes being more newsworthy (e.g. more violent or “its fate” OR the continued belief that such crashes are rare and thus more exceptional).

I think LAB would better spend its resources doing a more detailed analysis of the NHSTA data.

By: Nadim Kanafani

Nadim Kanafani — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:17:47 +0000

These are interesting data. The over representation of rear end deaths may mean that these types of collisions may be more fatal, but not necessarily more common types of accidents overall. I suspect rear end accidents involve a higher vehicular rate of speed than other types of accidents. Rate of speed data would be good to gather.

The 3pm-9pm interval is broad. It would be good to analyze the data using a bar graph in hourly intervals to see if there are more accidents during rush hour or during darkening hours. Gathering data on visibility is key, like color of clothing and presence of lights.

Lorries, trucks, SUV’s and high riding vehicles are a huge danger to cyclists, both in US and Europe. I suspect poor visualization of the bicyclist is the reason, as well as distraction and the driver being in a hurry. Making eye contact is an important part of my safe cycling practice, and that is often precluded when the driver is high. I have no idea how to fix this problem.

By: Bikeleague.org Blog » Blog Archive » Every Bicyclist Counts – What We’re Counting

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:00:20 +0000

[...] Monday, we provided an early look at our very preliminary data. We are just beginning to track fatal crashes, but we are already [...]

By: Bike News Roundup: ‘Renegades’ make illegal Capitol Hill Park, chill in it | Seattle Bike Blog

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:34:38 +0000

[...] Bikeleague.org Blog » Why Every Bicycle Counts and What We Can Learn from Fatal Crashes – I don’t know how I feel about this. If we were tracking all roadway deaths regardless of mode, then that would be an interesting project. But bringing more attention to already devastating deaths of people cycling could have the backfiring effect of making cycling seem more dangerous than it is. Memorial seems best left to the local community, friends and family. Though, of course, tracking the data to learn from it does seem like a good idea. [...]

By: Link roundup: May 22 | Tucson Velo

Link roundup: May 22 | Tucson Velo — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:41:06 +0000

[...] Why Every Bicycle Counts and What We Can Learn from Fatal Crashes [...]

By: Today’s Headlines | Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Today’s Headlines | Streetsblog Capitol Hill — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:49:23 +0000

[...] Every Cyclist Counts Has Plenty of Data to Intrigue, Depress (Bike League) [...]

By: Bicycling says we’re sort of bike-friendly; Better Bike’s Mark Elliot bounces off a Beverly Hills SUV « BikingInLA

Tue, 22 May 2012 07:20:44 +0000

[...] is now tracking bicycling fatalities on a national level, just as I’ve been doing in SoCal; preliminary results show over a third of all bike-related collisions were hit-from behinds, followed by failure to [...]

By: Why Every Bicycle Counts and What We Can Learn from Fatal Crashes | Bike Delaware

Tue, 22 May 2012 02:55:46 +0000

[...] This month, we sent out an appeal to League members describing Every Bicyclist Counts and asking for support for this important memorial, data-gathering, and awareness-raising tool. We immediately heard from members who were appreciative of the project – and eager to find out more about what we’ve learned so far. [Continue reading ...] [...]

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:02:33 +0000

Thank you for doing this! As I browse the descriptions of these tragic deaths, I noticed that light trucks (pickups and SUVs) seem disproportionately involved. Any plans to analyze vehicle type? Seems like you should be able to mine comparative road use stats to see if it truly is disproportionate.