Bicycle fatalities and injuries drop in 2007; part of virtuous cycle?

The number of bicyclists killed in traffic crashes in 2007 dropped 9.6% from the previous year, the biggest year-to-year drop this decade.

The National Highway Transporation Safety Administration (.pdf) reports 698 “pedalcyclists” were killed in traffic crashes in 2007, compared to 772 in 2006. It marks the second year in a row that bicycle fatalities have gone down.

The bureau released the report in August, shortly before this weekend's report by researchers at the University of New South Wales that concludes that the rate of collisions between bikes and cars drops as more people ride their bicycles.

Safety in numbers

Motorists drive more safely when they see more cyclists and pedestrians around, researchers say in a press release, “The Virtuous Cycle: Safety in numbers for riders.”

A community that sees a doubling of its rate of bicycling can expect a one-third drop in bicycle crashes involving motor vehicles. Said Julie Hatfield, a UNSW injury expert who addressed a cycling safety seminar in Sydney, Australia:

“It's a virtuous cycle. The likelihood that an individual cyclist will be struck by a motorist falls with increasing rate of bicycling in a community. And the safer cycling is perceived to be, the more people are prepared to cycle.”

The study attributes the decreasing collision rates to motorists becoming more aware as they see more cyclists and pedestrians, as well as the greater likelihood that motorists are safety-conscious bicyclists themselves.

Researchers used data from Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, 14 European countries and 68 Californian cities.

Bicycle popularity

The figures from the US highway safety agency do not include any estimates for “vehicle miles travelled” for bicycles, so it's difficult to judge whether the reduction in bicycling fatalities corresponds to more miles being ridden on bicycle.

Based on anecdotal reports in newspapers and information put out by some bike clubs, however, bicycling is on the increase.

Data

The summary report for 2007 does not include data for age groups, states or location of collisions involving bikes. But it does report that non-fatal traffic crashes involving bicyclists that resulted in injuries were also down in 2007, from 70,000 in 2006 to 61,000 in 2007.

In fact, traffic fatalities were down across the board in the US expect for motorcyclists, who suffered a 6.6% increase.

In this decade, 2005 was the worst year for bicyclists with 786 fatalities. The fewest fatalities this decade was 629 in 2003.