If you enjoy riding a bike for exercise, regularly bike to work or have concerns about your child who sometimes rides their bicycle near traffic, it is pivotal to understand the risks that cyclists face. Every year, many bicyclists suffer serious injuries, and these injuries have the potential to disrupt many aspects of a victim’s life.
By reviewing statistics on traffic accidents involving bicyclists, you can develop a better understanding of how widespread these incidents are. You should prioritize accident prevention, and if an accident has already occurred, make sure you pore over your options.
Data on bicyclist injuries
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published statistics on bicycle accident injuries, and this data shows that nearly 467,000 injuries resulted from bicycle accidents over the course of 2015. In fact, bicyclists have a higher likelihood of losing their lives or suffering injuries as a result of traffic accidents in comparison to those riding in motor vehicles, even though bicycle trips only make up for around 1% of trips in the U.S.
The impact of bicyclist injuries
According to CDC information from 2010, bicycle accident injuries (including fatal and nonfatal injuries) led to $10 billion in lost productivity and lifetime medical expenses. If you suffer a serious injury in a bike accident, you could have to miss work, struggle due to expensive medical costs, deal with high levels of physical pain and experience mental trauma.
Unfortunately, many bicycle accidents occur because of negligent drivers. Drivers who hit bicyclists because they are drunk, distracted or too tired to focus on the road must answer for their actions.