Common Cycling Accidents and How To Avoid Them

Every day, people use pedal and electric bicycles for transportation and recreation. Although these vehicles offer a fun and open way to enjoy the world in contrast to motor vehicles that separate drivers and passengers from the outdoors, lightweight and narrow bicycles offer little protection against harm during crashes and other accidents.

As a result, it’s critical for bicycle riders to learn the causes of cycling accidents and how to prevent future ones and associated injuries and deaths. Read on to learn more…

Collisions Caused by Bicyclists and Others

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), bicyclists must follow the same rules as motorists when traveling on the nation’s highways and byways. They must also respect local, state and national rules for bike paths and trails. Yet, both cyclists and drivers might act negligently or make mistakes.

Collisions caused by one or more bicyclists, drivers, pedestrians or other people often result in the most accident injuries and deaths, especially during summer months in areas where warm weather welcomes the masses to go outside. The most related deaths, nearly three quarters of all accident fatalities, occur in high-traffic urban areas. Additionally, the NHTSA found that the highest number of fatalities overall historically occurred because of mistakes and negligence (i.e., someone failed to see a bicyclist, a rider failed to see another person or hazard, or someone failed to yield the right of way).

Other common collision accidents usually involve someone failing to accurately judge a cyclist’s distance from them or the speed of bike travel, misunderstandings with light and hand gesture traffic signals, motorists accidentally forcing cyclists out of a bike lane or between vehicles, trucks with blind spots, parked cars with one or more doors open across bike lanes, streets or sidewalks, rider inexperience, and poor judgment when changing lanes or crossing intersections.

Collision Prevention Tips

To prevent these types of accidents, experts recommend that bicyclists practice their bike-riding skills regularly and keep up to date with hand and light communication signals and rules of the road from their local department of motor vehicles. Before a ride, they should invest in bike reflectors and lights and plan a route in a low-traffic area or check traffic conditions beforehand on the news.

While riding, they should maintain caution and situational awareness at all times, never make assumptions about the actions of others, stay off sidewalks, and watch out for parked cars with open doors, delivery drivers blocking paths, and other obstacles and sharp hazards like glass pieces, grates, nails, potholes and rocks. As with motorists, they should reduce distracted driving by keeping their cellphone or other loose items in a backpack or a bike or saddle bag attached to the bike.

Other Causes of Cycling Accidents

Believe it or not, the list of other reasons for accidents isn’t long. Bicyclists typically experience blowouts, falls or total loss of control. The common causes of these accidents include weather adversely impacting road conditions, emergency events, a bad bicycle fit, poor bicycle maintenance, and gear problems.

For example, a cyclist might experience a blowout because they under- or over-inflated their tires. They might fall because the bike doesn’t match their body type, or a shoelace or piece of clothing became stuck in it after they didn’t buy or wear the right items. They might also fall or slide off a road (i.e., lose control) because they forgot to wear glare-reducing eyewear on a sunny day.

They might have failed to check road conditions and rode into high winds or across a wet or icy patch. Additionally, they might suddenly hit the brakes too hard or turn too quickly because of a personal medical problem, the appearance of a wild animal, a vehicle pileup on the road in front of them, and other emergency reasons.

Tips for Other Causes

To prevent most of these types of accidents, a bicyclist merely needs to put in enough time and effort. For example, they should regularly check their bike’s condition, especially before a long trip or ride across rough terrain. To keep their bicycle in tip-top shape, they should perform seasonal repairs and replace old and worn parts. They should also buy a bike that better matches their size, tighter clothes that don’t have hanging or loose pieces, and anti-glare, UV-protection goggles or sunglasses.

Of course, they should prepare their route and invest in a portable radio that can provide real-time traffic and weather conditions before they go out. If they must or plan to ride in bad weather, they should increase their caution, ride more defensively, maintain a car’s length distance from other forms of transportation, and slow down their speed.

Additional Tips to Protect Against Accidents

At the end of the day, a cyclist can’t stop every accident. That said, they can reduce the risk of a serious injury or even death. Beyond the accident tips already covered, a bike rider should always wear a well-fitted helmet to protect their brain from a traumatic brain injury during a fall. They should also use approved bike lanes more often.

They can prevent accidents by proactively making changes in their local community as well. For example, they might join a biking association or safety committee that helps improve riding conditions in their local area or state. They might petition officials to pass laws that increase the number of bike lanes and paths, reduce motorist driving speed in high bike traffic zones, or enact laws that more deeply penalize people who act negligently when they share the roads with bicyclists.

Lastly, they might take bike-riding classes to both improve their riding skills and create valuable social ties with other cyclists in their community or neighborhood.