Many residents of Maryland choose to ride bicycles as an alternative to driving. It helps to save money on gas while providing a healthy form of activity. Unfortunately, cyclists are at risk because they’re sharing the roads with motor vehicles.
How many people are killed riding bicycles each year?
Out of all the people on the roads in vehicles, bicycles only make up around 1% of them. In spite of that small number, cyclists make up more than 2% of all fatalities in accidents involving motor vehicles.
In 2020, 697 people were killed while riding bicycles. The vast majority of the victims, 80%, were men. Most of these accidents were not hit-and-runs, but just over 26% of the cyclists killed that year were involved in hit-and-run accidents.
Most of the cyclists who died as a result of cycling accidents were between the ages of 55 and 69. Men are six times more likely to die in a bicycle accident involving a motor vehicle. They are also five times more likely to suffer injuries than women cyclists. Annually, nearly 1,000 cyclists die while around another 130,000 are injured in serious vehicle accidents.
Where and when are these fatal accidents occurring?
Cyclist fatalities are split in terms of the locations where they occur. While most people would automatically assume that urban areas see a huge percentage of deaths, the numbers are actually almost evenly split. While urban areas saw 35% of all bicycle accident deaths in 2020, rural areas accounted for 33%, and suburban areas saw 32% of cyclist fatalities.
July and August were the two months when people riding bicycles were killed more often during the year. July ranked as the month with the most fatalities at 84% while August closely followed with 81% of the deaths.
These statistics show that more work needs to be done to keep cyclists safe while sharing roads with motor vehicles.
