Who Knew? More Bicyclists, More Bicycle Accidents, More Fatalities

As shocking and incomprehensible as it might seem, the increased use of bicycles so heavily encouraged by city governments has resulted in a sharp rise in bicycle accidents. When it’s bike vs. car or truck, the bike always loses. The rise in bike accidents has been accompanied by an increase in fatalities. 

On August 23, 2022, the city of Carlsbad declared a state of emergency for bike, e-bike and traffic safety, citing a 233% increase in collisions involving bikes and e-bikes since 2019, and adding that there have been two fatalities in the past 17 days.

Nationally, e-bike sales rose 240% from 2020 to 2021. Because e-bikes are faster than pedal bikes, collision injuries are more likely to be severe and require hospitalization.

No doubt, drivers paying more attention to texts, cell phone calls and GPS screens than to the road contribute to the sharp rise in collisions with bikes.

It seems that every teenage boy in coastal North County cities rides an e-bike. Teenagers’ natural recklessness and self-assurance of immortality contribute to the collision frequency.

A young mom toting an infant and two toddlers on an e-bike and riding in the traffic lanes looked like a risk no sane person would take. But all four wore helmets, so maybe mom thought she and her kids were safe.

More cars and trucks on the roads, more vehicular accidents. 

More bikes on the roads with cars and trucks, more collisions with bikes. 

Both seem predictable and unavoidable.