There are two groups of people out on the road that are in a far riskier situation than anyone else: pedestrians and bicyclists. This is for a number of obvious reasons. They have virtually no safety equipment to protect them, they inherently have to put themselves in more dangerous places out on the road (in crosswalks for pedestrians, alongside cars for bicyclists), and when they are struck by another vehicle, serious, catastrophic, or fatal injuries are likely.
The data shows this too. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2006 there were 4,795 pedestrians. By 2015, that number had skyrocketed to 5,376 pedestrian deaths (that’s an average of 15 people every day).
Bicycling has seen a similar increase in the number of fatalities in traffic accidents over the same period of time. In 2006, 772 bicyclists were killed in accidents in the United States, and by 2015 that number went up to 818 deaths.
Outside of the fatal incidents, injuries went up over this time period for both pedestrians and bicyclists. The former suffered 61,000 injuries in 2006 but 70,000 in 2015; the latter suffered 44,000 injuries in 2006 and 45,000 in 2015.
It is obvious that the safety conditions out on the road for bicyclists and pedestrians are not improving, nor should they be currently accepted. Hopefully, some improvements in the laws that address bicycle and pedestrian safety will occur, but in the meantime, injured bikers and pedestrians should consider their legal position after an accident.
Source: pedbikeinfo.org, “Pedestrian and Bicyclist Crash Statistics,” Accessed April 2, 2018
