Improving Bicycle Safety in California

Bicycle Safety in CA

Did you know that California is considered one of the most dangerous states for bikers? According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), California leads all other states in deaths due to bicycle accidents. In fact, the report states that from 2010-2012, there were 338 bicyclist deaths due to crashes with other motor vehicles on the road. The bottom line is that California, along with just four other states, made up over half of all biking collision deaths in the United States alone.338 may not seem like a lot to most people, but in comparison to other states with less than 5 bicycling deaths per year, it is actually quite shocking. Many people believe this large number has to do with how highly populated California is when in fact, the numbers are not due a large population but rather a spike in biking popularity within the last few years. California has definitely seen an increase in health and environmental consciousness, which unfortunately comes with its downfalls: more risks and hazards for biking fanatics.Whether other drivers on the road are just more distracted, choose to ignore or forget to check for bicyclists around them, or generally feel like they “rule the road” and are unstoppable, one thing that can be said is that safety rules and laws for bicyclists needs much improvement in the state of California in order to decrease these life altering accidents. The GHSA suggests a number of actions that can help California improve safety on the road for all bicyclists. Things such as firmly establishing bike lanes, improving road signage for bikers, and community outreach education efforts can all help improve safety for everyone on the road. Although these recommendations may take time, we suggest that extreme attentiveness by all people sharing the roads will help decrease life threatening and catastrophic accidents from occurring.