Every 15 seconds someone suffers a brain injury.
Bicycle Accident Quick Facts?
- Nearly one million children are injured each year in bicycle related accidents.
- 49% of all bicycle fatalities occur to children under the age of sixteen.
- Head injuries account for 75% of all serious injuries and deaths.
- While collisions with automobiles only account for 1/3 of the accidents, they account for the majority of the catastrophic injuries.
- A bicyclist is fatally injured every 6 hours in the United States.
Negligent drivers are a major factor in bicycle accidents. If a driver makes a turn, pulls out of a driveway or alley, or opens a car door without being observant they are putting bicyclists in danger. Injuries sustained to bicyclists may be fatal because of the lack of protection that a bicycle provides. There is no competition between a bicycle and a vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds. Drivers must be held accountable for the injuries that they cause.
There are many different injuries that a person may suffer due to a bicycle accident, including:
- Head injury
- Fractured bones
- Spine injury
In most bicycle-motor vehicle accidents, a negligent or inattentive automobile driver is at fault. Some of the common types of collisions include:
- A driver turning directly in front of a bicyclist
- A driver entering the street from a driveway or parking spot pulls out into traffic in front of the bicyclist
- A driver’s failure to yield at an intersection or running a stop sign or red light
- A driver’s inattention while driving past a bicyclist
- A driver’s failure to look both ways when resuming travel after stopping at a stop sign
- A driver impaired by drugs or alcohol