At last Wednesday's Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting in Tampa, there was a presentation about bike accidents. Ken Sturrock of the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club was in attendance and offered some of the highlights. By the way, for the full report, go to the SHBC web site at www.seminoleheightsbicycleclub.com and click on bicycle/pedestrian powerpoint at the bottom of the home page.
Ken says that even though the data in the presentation is REPORTED data, it's still estimated to cover about 1/3rd of bicycle accidents - the most severe ones that got a police report.
Among the important things to note are:
-- There is a HUGE spike in crashes among the 1 to 19 population (which
relates to the population that often rides) and they would be an obvious
education target group.
-- The vast majority of crashes occur at intersections and driveways and
occur with a forward moving bicycle and a car turning right or also
going straight - however, the data doesn't depict directionality of
traffic flow but indicates that automobiles passing cyclists is not a
major cause of accidents in Hillsborough.
-- It also indicates that a major porportion of fatalities (which still
relies on a statistically very small set) are related to riding at night.
-- The presentation also shows that intoxicating agents still play a role
in accidents on bicycles.
3 comments:
I'm going to have to disagree with your #2 assessment: while the data shown doesn't depict directionality, the "right hook" is every bit as common with an overtaking motor vehicle as it is with a car traveling the opposite direction from a cyclist. Cars misjudge the speed of bicycles and think they can make a right turn at an intersection or into a driveway before the bike gets to them, and this just isn't the case. I've witnessed it firsthand more times than I can count!
Yeah - part of the problem is that it was compiled from really rough categories of data that were chosen by the cop on the scene. So, what's a "right hook" versus a "right turn collision" versus "forward motion of the car" is hard to categorize based on the information that the contractor had to go by.
I agree - the right hook is common, and would probably show up a lot more if there was a "right hook" check box on the long form and a knowledgeable cop writing the form.
-Ken
great data! certainly validates a few of my rules. no riding after dark (I know, pitiful)
ride in slowest speed traffic I can find.
no drinking and biking. not even one.
seems strange that there was no road rage entry -- maybe it just doesn't end up with much police interaction.
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