Pedalcyclists

Traffic Safety Facts 1997

U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

More than 44,000 pedalcyclists have died in traffic crashes in the United States since 1932 -- the first year in which estimates of pedalcyclist fatalities were recorded. The 350 pedalcyclists killed in 1932 accounted for 1.3 percent of the 27,979 persons who died in traffic crashes that year.

In 1997, 813 pedalcyclists were killed and an additional 58,000 were injured in traffic crashes. Pedalcyclist deaths accounted for 2 percent of all traffic fatalities, and pedalcyclists made up 2 percent of all the people injured in traffic crashes during the year.

The number of pedalcyclist fatalities in 1997 was 14 percent lower than the 948 fatalities reported in 1987. The highest number of pedalcyclist fatalities ever recorded in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) was 1,003 in 1975.

In 1987, the average age of pedalcyclists killed in traffic crashes was 23.0 years; in 1997 the average age of those killed was 30.8 years, and the average age of those injured was 24.1 years.

Pedalcyclists accounted for 13 percent of all nonmotorist traffic fatalities in 1997. Pedestrians accounted for 85 percent, and the remaining 2 percent were skateboard riders, roller skaters, etc.

Pedalcyclist fatalities occurred more frequently in urban areas (64 percent), at nonintersection locations (67 percent), between the hours of 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM (34 percent), and during the months of June, July, and August (35 percent).

Most of the pedalcyclists killed or injured in 1997 were males (88 percent and 82 percent, respectively), and most were between the ages of 5 and 44 years (76 percent and 88 percent, respectively).

The pedalcyclist fatality rate per capita was more than 7 times as high for males as for females, and the injury rate per capita was more than 4 times as high for males as for females.

Pedalcyclists under age 16 accounted for 31 percent of all pedalcyclists killed and 43 percent of those injured in traffic crashes in 1997. In comparison, pedalcyclists under age 16 accounted for 47 percent of all those killed in 1987.

Pedalcyclists 25 years of age and older have made up an increasing proportion of all pedalcyclist deaths since 1987. The proportion of pedalcyclist fatalities age 25 to 64 was 1.7 times as high in 1997 as in 1987 (46 percent and 27 percent, respectively).

Almost one-third (30 percent) of the pedalcyclists killed in traffic crashes in 1997 were between 5 and 15 years old. The pedalcyclist fatality rate for this age group was 5.7 per million population -- nearly double the rate for all pedalcyclists (3.0 per million population). The injury rate for this age group was 582 per million population, compared with 216 per million population for pedalcyclists of all ages.

Alcohol involvement -- either for the driver or the pedalcyclist -- was reported in one-third of the traffic crashes that resulted in pedalcyclist fatalities in 1997. In 25.0 percent of the crashes, either the driver or the cyclist was intoxicated, with blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of 0.10 grams per deciliter (g/dl) or greater. Lower alcohol levels (BAC 0.01 to 0.09 g/dl) were reported in an additional 8.1 percent. Nearly one-fourth (22.8 percent) of the pedalcyclists killed had a BAC of 0.01 g/dl or greater, and nearly one-fifth (17.3 percent) were intoxicated.