WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE IN A BIKE/CAR CRASH By Steven M. Magas, Ohio’s Bike Lawyer


Statistically, we know that riding a bike on the roadway is a VERY safe thing.  While there are 30-40,000 motorists who die on our roadways each year, the number of cyclist fatalities has dropped considerably from a high of 1000 or so in the mid-1970s to below 700 in 2008.  While motorcycle and pedestrian deaths are UP, cycling deaths are DOWN despite millions of new riders in this latest “Bike Boom!”
One reason for this decrease in cyclist deaths nationwide, I’m sure, is that the demographics of the “typical” cyclist involved in a fatal crash have totally flip-flopped since 1975.  Back in the 1970′s, MOST cycling fatalities involved kids – people under the age of 16 – which meant that riders were somewhat unpredictable.  There were a lot of “Dart Out” cases where children on bikes would suddenly appear on the roadway after darting out from a driveway.
Today, virtually all cycling deaths involved adults.   In 2009, almost 90%, 9 out of 10, of all cycling fatalities nationwide involved people OVER the age of 16. The average age of a rider killed on the road today if over 40.Today’s adult riders are more likely to treat operating a bicycle on the roadway the same as driving a car.  They stay in their lane, know the rules of the road and don’t act in stupid or unpredictable ways – most of the time, anyway.

[Keep reading at ohiobikelawyer.com]

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