- A new report recently released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that the number of vehicle-related cyclist and pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. increased in 2018 from the year before, despite a total decrease in fatalities from motor-vehicle accidents.
- The report also cites that last year was the deadliest year for cyclists since 1990.
- The data shows that this is largely a problem in urban areas, highlighting the need for better bicycle infrastructure across cities.
On October 22, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a report outlining the statistics on fatal motor vehicle accidents that occurred in 2018. Its major findings? While most vehicle occupant fatalities decreased from the year prior, both pedestrian and bicyclist deaths increased.
The report states that cyclist deaths rose by 6.3 percent from 2017 to 2018, despite an overall decrease of 2.4 percent in total motor vehicle accident deaths. The only categories to see an increase aside from cyclists were pedestrians at 3.4 percent and large-truck occupants at just 0.8 percent.
In fact, the number of cyclist fatalities in 2018—857 cyclists—is the highest it's been in almost 30 years, since the 859 cyclist deaths reported in 1990.
Furthermore, "nonoccupant" deaths, such as pedestrians and cyclists, have slowly made up an increasingly greater percentage of overall deaths, going from 14 percent in 2009 to 20 percent in 2018.
The report also delves into the statistics on age and gender for cyclist fatalities. Male cyclist fatalities rose by 3.2 percent, while female cyclist fatalities rose by 29.2 percent.
Fatal accidents involving cyclists that occurred at night rose by 9.2 percent between 2017 and 2018, and fatalities due to drunk driving also increased by 9.2 percent.
It appears that the problem is largely urban-based, too, which won’t come as a surprise to those already aware of the pervasiveness of cyclist fatalities across cities in the U.S. New York in particular has already reached its highest number of vehicle-related cyclist fatalities in 20 years, with 26 deaths so far for 2019.
The report cites that since 2009, the number of cyclist fatalities in urban areas has risen by a staggering 48 percent. Meanwhile, fatalities in rural areas over the same period decreased by 8.9 percent. Such statistics reinforce the need for safe and comprehensive bicycle infrastructure across cities.
In its opening summary, the report touches upon how improvements to airbags and electronic stability control and safety programs surrounding seatbelt use and impaired driving have helped lower the total number of vehicle accident deaths.
While those measures could certainly lead to improved cyclist (and pedestrian) safety—especially when addressing impaired driving—the numbers show that far more needs to be done.
From: Bicycling US