How Common Are Bicycle Accidents?

Bicycle accidents happen quite often and usually occur between two types of people.

The first type involves children who ride their bikes recreationally after school or on their way home from school. The second type involves the fairly large adult population who rely on bicycle transportation to and from work and home.

 

What Are Some Common Injuries From Bicycle Accidents?

Injuries from bicycle accidents include everything from minor soft tissue bumps, bruises, scrapes, abrasions to serious fractures, and head injuries.

 

Is There A Specific Time Of Day Most Accidents Occur?

Most accidents probably occur during the high traffic hours. However, most people would think it would be more dangerous at night because of the darkness.

People are typically more distracted in high traffic or rush-hour type of traffic because there are so many people on the road. These people are all trying to get to where they are going rather than paying attention to those around them.

 

Is A Bicycle Injury Closer To A Pedestrian Injury Or A Motorcycle Injury?

The injuries that are sustained are sort of hybrids.

With the bicycle, there’s the force of the bicycle if it was moving at the time of the accident. This makes it more similar to a motorcycle type of accident.

However, often there are cyclists who are actually at a stop, waiting to cross a street or waiting to merge over. They get struck while they are in a stationery position, which becomes more similar to a pedestrian accident.

 

Are There Any Helmet Laws With Bicycles?

Yes. There are helmet laws for minors, with the cut-off age at 16. They would be required to wear helmets.

 

What Are Some Common Misconceptions About Bicycle Accidents?

The most common misconception involves bicyclists who ride on the sidewalk. These people feel that they should be treated like pedestrians and have the right of way, regardless of their sidewalk riding.

This is a misconception because people must realize when they are riding a bicycle on a public roadway that they must act like a car. Cars are not allowed to ride on the sidewalk.

We often find that bicycles riding on the sidewalk rather than the street are hit by cars coming in and out of driveways. A car preparing to make a turn into or out of a driveway is looking for oncoming traffic, like vehicles. They’re also looking for pedestrians.

Bicycles can move a lot quicker than pedestrians. Therefore, bicyclists might be several yards away from the driveway on the sidewalk, and the person driving the vehicle might believe it’s all clear because no vehicles are coming. They might think there were no pedestrians immediately in the driveway.

However, by the time the car made the turn, the higher-speed bicyclists would have collapsed into the side of the vehicle.

 

Do Some Clients Become Scared To Ride A Bicycle Again After An Accident?

This is generally not a very big factor. It’s not something I hear about commonly, and the contrary often occurs.

A couple of clients actually use their bicycles as their means of transportation. They have had multiple accidents, but this issue has not come up. This is not like a dog bite situation in which the person has an ongoing fear of animals.

This isn’t even like an automobile accident, after which people grow apprehensive after their accidents. For example, if they were hit from behind at a red light, they might have apprehension every time they’re stopped at a red light after that.

In my experience and in my practice, bicyclists are a little more resilient. This could be the result of the type of people who ride bicycles. It might just be my personal experience with my clients.

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