Practice Areas
Nebraska Bicycle Accidents
- In 2007, there was one cyclist fatality due to a traffic accident in Nebraska – 0.4 percent of all fatalities. This represents 0.56 cyclist fatalities per million Nebraska residents. This is significantly lower than the national average for cyclist fatalities in 2007, where 1.7 percent of traffic fatalities were cyclists (698 deaths), representing 2.31 fatalities per million Americans.
- Out of almost 36,000 traffic accidents in Nebraska in 2007, crashes involving bicyclists and other cyclists represented 253 crashes – just 0.7 percent. These crashes resulted in 252 injuries, of which 20 were disabling. These injury statistics were down slightly from the year before, when crashes involving bicycles totaled 244, resulting in 2 fatalities and 254 injuries, 32 of which were disabling.
- Nationwide, 43,000 cyclists were injured in traffic accidents in 2007, representing 2 percent of traffic related injuries. Statistics show that cyclist fatalities occur more frequently in urban areas, between the hours of 5 and 9 p.m., and during the warmer months.
- Most of the cyclists killed or injured in 2007 were males (88% and 83%, respectively), and most were between the ages of 5 and 44 (55% and 79%, respectively).
- Cyclists age 25 and older have made up an increasing proportion of all cyclist deaths since 1997.
- Pedalcyclist fatalities occur most frequently in urban areas (72%), at non-intersection locations (64%), between the hours of 5 and 9 p.m. (26%), and during the months of June (11%) and September (11%).
- Alcohol involvement — either for the driver or the cyclist — was reported in more than one-third of the traffic crashes that resulted in cyclist fatalities in 2007. Over one-fourth (31%) of the cyclists killed had a BAC of .01 g/dL or higher, and nearly one-fourth (25%) had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher.
Sources:
State of Nebraska 2007 Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report
Traffic Safety Facts, 2007 Data www.nhtsa.gov
