Dickey 1

Kelby Dickey
English 110
Brian Hendrickson
November 16, 2015
Bicycling Cyclist Safety
Abstract
This analytical report will be discussing the growing problems with transportation safety
and the increasing crash rate involving bicyclists. Transportation safety is a major public health
issue in the United States. Accidents involving transportation vehicles cause not only physical
and sometimes mental injury but also damage to public and private property and sadly on some
occasions accidents will result in one or more fatality. You may not hear about it every day but
the accidents are becoming more and more common and more fatal. There will be many
measures that will be discussed in this analytical report that will help with not only bicyclist
safety but transportation safety as a whole.
Background
Pedalcyclists are bicyclists and other cyclists including riders of two wheeled, nonmotarized vehicles, tricycles, and unicycles that are powered solely by pedals. A traffic crash is
defined as an incident that involved one or more motor vehicles where at least one vehicle was in
transport and the crash originated on a public traffic way, such as a road or highway. According
to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2013, there were 743 pedalcyclists
killed and an estimated 48,000 injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes across the U.S.
Pedalcyclist deaths accounted for 2 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities and injured
pedalcyclists made up 2 percent of the people injured in traffic crashes during the year. The
number of pedalcyclists killed in 2013 is 1 percent higher than the 734 pedalcyclists killed in

Dickey 2
2012. The increase in 2013 is the third straight increase in pedalcyclist fatalities, a 19-percent
increase since 2010. There is an obvious issue with pedalcyclist safety that needs to be solved all
over America. These statistics show how dangerous our roadways are in the United States. The
City of Albuquerque has more than 400 miles of bike paths and trails. Because of most of the
bike paths and trails being close to motor vehicle traffic it causes great issues involving the
safety of the cyclist. According to journal staff writer Olivier Uyttebrouck, New Mexico is the
second deadliest state for bicyclists in the nation. The reasons for New Mexico being one of the
deadliest states for bicyclist is because the issues range from our states high rate of substance
abuse all the way to the lack of designated bike lanes. The number of cyclist deaths per capita for
New Mexico was second only to that of Florida in 2010-12, and 50 percent higher than the U.S.
rate in that period, the New Mexico Department of Health said in a recent report. The report does
not say how many deaths occurred during that period, but it does say 36 cyclists were killed in
New Mexico from 2009 to 2013. In 2013, seven New Mexico cyclists were killed, 89 were
hospitalized and 1,684 were treated for injuries at hospital emergency departments and released,
according to the report. (Uyttebrouch). These deaths should all be preventable on both sides with
the cyclists and motor vehicles.
Methods
According to a study done by Kay Teschke, out of 690 crashes, 683 could be
characterized. 74% were collisions which involved motor vehicles. Of that 74%, 34% was from
street cars and 14% were with train tracks. Surface features counted as 10% as well as
infrastructure. 6 % of crashes were due to pedestrians, other cyclists or animals. Motor vehicle
involvement in collisions and falls featured most prominently on major streets with parked cars,
and almost not at all on routes separated from traffic. A minority of all crashes occurred at

Dickey 3
intersections (31%), though a higher proportion of motor vehicle collisions were at intersections.
This study should be taken into account and specific laws dealing with major streets and
intersections should be made to protect not only cyclist but pedestrians and motor vehicle
drivers. As a nation we should be looking into what is specifically causing these crashes and
finding methods that will help prevent so many of these severe crashes. A big problem in New
Mexico is substance abuse while driving. A largely known story in Albuquerque is when
Albuquerque Police said that a drunk driver killed a bicyclist, who was a prominent Albuquerque
figure, in the Tanoan gated community Sunday afternoon. Around 1 p.m. on a Sunday, police
responded to a vehicle crash involving a bicyclist near the intersection of Tanoan Drive and
Cypress Point Way. Witnesses at the scene said they saw the suspect vehicle driving erratically in
the gated neighborhood, before it struck the bicyclist. The victim Reed Rutledge, 59, was
transported to a local hospital, where he later died. Rutledge is known for his home building in
the Albuquerque area. A family friend said Rutledge was out on his bike, rehabilitating from a
knee surgery. APDs Simon Drobik said Coulter Cook, 25, was arrested Sunday evening after
refusing to give a breath test at the scene of the crash. Police are confident that Cook was driving
drunk. Cook never applied the brakes before hitting Rutledge, and that Rutledge was dragged
some distance. Cook decided to drive drunk, Drobik said. It was his irresponsible actions that
killed this other individual, Mr. Rutledge in a horrific way, a totally horrific way. This never
should have happened. Cook was charged with vehicular homicide. This accident resulted in the
loss of life of an influential Albuquerque resident and left his family and the community with
sore hearts. For New Mexico to be safe for not only cyclist but for pedestrians and motor vehicle
drivers, substance abuse while driving must come to an end. The most effective way would be
for stricter law enforcement and even new technology to help prevent substance abuse while

Dickey 4
driving. Either way substance abuse while driving is extremely unsafe; it endangers the life of
the driver and the people around them whether the people surrounding them are in another car,
on a bike, or simply just walking around.
Results
A key part to cyclist safety is wearing a helmet. Bicycle related injuries can be prevented
just by wearing a helmet. Bicycle helmets reduce the risk of head and brain injuries in the event
of a crash. All bicyclists, regardless of age, can help protect themselves by wearing properly
fitted bicycle helmets every time they ride. According to the CDC, while only 1% of all trips
taken in the U.S. are by bicycle, bicyclists face a higher risk of crash-related injury and deaths
than occupants of motor vehicles do. In 2013 in the U.S., over 900 bicyclists were killed and
there were an estimated 494,000 emergency department visits due to bicycle-related injuries.3
Data from 2010 show fatal and non-fatal crash-related injuries to bicyclists resulted in lifetime
medical costs and productivity losses of $10 billion. Bicycling is more dangerous than one might
think. Adolescents and young adults (15-29 years) and adults aged 45 years and older have the
highest bicycle death rates. Children (5-14 years), adolescents, and young adults (15-24 years)
have the highest rates of nonfatal bicycle-related injuries, accounting for almost 52% of all
bicycle-related injuries seen in U.S. emergency departments. Males are much more likely to be
killed or injured on bicycles than are females and most bicyclist deaths occur in urban areas and
at non-intersection locations. These high injury/death rates could be avoided by the enforcement
of simple rules provided by bicycling advocacy groups along with other transportation officials.
Jennifer Buntz, president of the Duke City Wheelmen, a bicycling advocacy group, said better
driver education and stricter enforcement of traffic laws are needed to improve bicycling safety.
Buntz served on a committee formed by the Legislature in 2013 that recommended changes to

Dickey 5
the state drivers license manual intended to improve drivers understanding of bicycling and
motorcycle traffic rules and to improve safety. The recommendations have not been included in
the drivers manual. The recommendations called for at least 5 percent of drivers license manual
and test questions to cover pedestrian, bicycle and motorcycle awareness, as well as related
traffic safety rules. For a safer road for cyclist, laws must be put into place for the motor vehicles
around them even if it includes slowing speeds and more awareness of nearby cyclists.

Works Cited

Dickey 6
"Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM." Accident Data Center. 04 Aug. 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
"Bicycle Safety." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
Sturtevant, Kathryn, and Madeline Schmitt. "Driver Arrested, Victim Identified in Fatal Bicycle
Crash." KRQE News 13. N.p., 19 July 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
Teschke, Kay, et al. "Bicycling Crash Circumstances Vary by Route Type: A Cross-sectional
Analysis." BMC Public Health. BioMed Central, 22 Nov. 2014. Web. 09 Nov.
2015.
"Traffic Safety Facts." 2013 Data: Pedalcyclists: n. pag. National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. U,S Department of Transportation. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.
Uytterbrouck, Oliver. "New Mexico is 2nd-deadliest State for Bicyclists." ABQJournal Online.
Albuquerque Journal, 11 Feb. 2015. 16 Nov. 2015.