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Old May 11th 18, 05:28 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Jeff Liebermann
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Posts: 4,018
Default Another cyclist down

On Thu, 10 May 2018 19:47:16 -0500, Tim McNamara
wrote:
(...)

Fun and games with statistics.

The state of Minnesota publishes annual traffic accident statistics,
some which is quite detailed:
https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ots/reports-statistics/Pages/crash-facts.aspx
2015 is the latest data available:
https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ots/reports-statistics/Documents/2015-crash-facts.pdf
The bicycle section starts on Pg 91.

Scrolling down to Table 7.07 on Pg 95, I find
"Contributing Factors in 2015 Bicycle Crashes"

The first thing I noticed is that detailed data was only available for
about half the known accidents in which a bicycle was involved. So,
double all the numbers and percentages. Of the accidents that can be
blamed on the cyclist:
Failure to yield right of way 28.3%
Disregard for traffic control
device (traffic light or stop sign) 16.8%
Non-motorist error 14.9%
Driver inattention or distraction 5.5%
Failure to use lights 4.4%
Improper/Unsafe lane use 3.4%
Vision obscured 2.1%
All the other causes are less than 1%

Lots of interesting conclusion can be drawn for this, but the one that
gets my attention is the "failure to use lights" which probably means
riding without any lights at night. Considering that most accidents
occurred in good weather and peaked around 5PM (Fig 7.01 Pg 92), it's
possible that lack of bicycle lighting might be responsible for most
of the few night time accidents.

Starting on Pg 96 is the section of accidents involving school buses.
Table 8.01 on Pg 97 show about 700 bus crashes per year. Compared to
about 900 bicycle crashes per year and the absence of many adults on
skool buses, I would say that riding a school bus to and from skool is
equally safe as riding a bicycle.

There's probably more that I could squeeze out of the numbers, but a
late dinner beckons.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
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