Safe Transportation Research & Education Center

Bicycling is becoming more popular across the country, for commuting, exercise, and leisure. However, in the event of a traffic collision between a motor vehicle and a bicyclist, the bicyclist is the more vulnerable party and is more likely to be injured or killed than motor vehicle passengers. Bicycling fatalities increased 14.4 percent from 734 in 2012 to 840 in 2016 nationwide. Bicyclist fatalities represented 2.2 percent of the total number of traffic fatalities in 2016. Bicycle collisions are defined as crashes where one or more victims is a bicyclist, other cyclist, or bicycling passenger.