What are the statistics for bicycle crashes?

As a bicyclist, you may be wondering what the bicycle crash statistics in Pennsylvania look like. Though the overall number of accidents have dropped over the years, there are still some points to watch out for.

As stated by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the overview for bicycle accidents in 2014 is as follows. Reportedly, only 1.1 percent of the total number of reported crashes involved bicycles. This may seem like a small number, but it adds up to about 1,298 injuries in Pennsylvania alone within the year. Additionally, there were 19 bicyclist deaths. 1.6 percent of traffic deaths in 2014 can be attributed to bicycle crashes, as well.

However, the good news is that the total number of crashes and lethal accidents have dropped over the last five years. In 2010, there were 1,483 bicycle-related crashes with 21 deaths. This is compared to the 1,309 crashes in 2014 and 19 deaths. However, these numbers are still relatively high.

The age group that suffers the most from bicycle accidents are children between the ages of 5 and 14. A fourth of the accidents fall into this group. Meanwhile, 15.5 percent of the injuries happened to people between the ages of 15 and 19. It should also be noted that 75.4 percent of the accidents occurred during the day. However, 47.4 percent of the fatal injuries occurred in the dark, meaning that accidents which occur during the night have a higher chance of being fatal.

In keeping these statistics in mind, it is important for you to make safer decisions when you are on your bike so that you can lower your chances of getting into an accident.