Characteristics of Accident Victims

• Most bicycle injuries occur to boys aged 10-14 years.
  
  
• Although safety education often focuses on children, older bicyclists must remember that almost 70% of bicycle deaths involve adults.
  
  
  • Men account for almost 90% of all bicycle deaths, 7 times higher than rates for women.
    
    
  • Officials attribute this to males riding more than females.
  
  
• In analyzing who is at fault for a collision, officials found the bicyclist responsible in half the cases and the motorist responsible in about one third. The remaining were attributed to both parties.
  
  
• Younger cyclists who are not familiar with rules of the road are far more likely to cause and be involved in a serious accident. Some advocate that children younger than 8 years should not be allowed on public roads.
  
  
• Statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reveal that most bicycle deaths occur during the summer months, and almost half the deaths occur between 3-9 pm.
  
  
  • The risk of sustaining an injury in non daylight conditions is 4 times greater than during daytime.
    
    
  • Almost 40% of bicycle-motor vehicle crashes occurred during low-light conditions when motorists had trouble seeing cyclists.
    
    
  • Bicycle deaths are almost equal throughout the weekdays or weekends.
    
    
  • More bicyclists are killed in urban areas than rural areas.
    
    
  • More than half of bicycle deaths occur on major roads; one third of deaths occur at an intersection.
    
    
  • One third of bicyclist fatalities occur on roads with speed limits of 55 mph or higher.
    
    
  • Typically, bicycle-motorist crashes occur within 1 mile of the bicyclist’s home.