The first automobile crash in the United States occurred in New York City in 1896, when a motor vehicle collided with a pedalcycle rider (Famous First Facts, by Joseph Kane). More than 49,000 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 2003, 622 pedalcyclists were killed and an additional 46,000 were injured in traffic crashes. Pedalcyclist deaths accounted for 1 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 2003 was 24 percent lower than the 816 fatalities reported in 1993. The highest number of pedalcyclist fatalities ever recorded in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) was 1,003 in 1975. Pedalcyclists accounted for 11 percent of all nonmotorist traffic fatalities in 2003. Pedestrians accounted for 86 percent, and the remaining 3 percent were skateboard riders, roller skaters, etc. Additional statistics on pedalcyclist fatalities and injuries in 2003 are provided in this traffic safety fact sheet. (Author/publisher)
Abstract