Bicycle Injuries and Fatalities Increasing in Older Americans Save

JAMA reports the number of traumatic injuries related to bikes in adults nearly doubled from 1998 to 2013 -- going from 8,791 to 15,427. The researchers used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which includes data from of 100 emergency departments, and U.S. Census data to exptrapolate to the whole country.(Sanford T, et al. JAMA 2015; 314:947, Bicycle Trauma Injuries and Hospital Admissions in the United States, 1998-2013)

Head injuries are also increasing - from 10 to 16 percent, while torso injuries rose from 14 to 17 percent. Most of the injuries took place on streets (56 percent). The number of bikers on U.S. streets has ncreased significantly owing to the rise of bike sharing services, bike commuting and the popularity of cycling for fitness. But there is tension and concern between car commuters and bikers over safety, lane issues and not knowing the rules of the road.

Vanparijs et al also analyzed bicycle injuries and found that retrospective studies showed higher accident rates for men compared to women, and an increased risk of injury for cyclists aged 50 years or older. The risk of cycling accidents increased when riding in the dark. Wearing visible clothing or a helmet, or having more cycling experience did not reduce the risk of being involved in an accident. They postulated that better cyclist-driver awareness and interaction between car driver and cyclists should improve bicycle safety (Accid Anal Prev. 2015 Aug 18 [Epub ahead of print]. Exposure measurement in bicycle safety analysis: A review of the literature). 

Sethi recently showed that bicyclists wearing helmeted were 72% less likely to sustain traumatic brain injury compared with un-helmeted bicyclists in dense urban areas like NYC (adjusted Odds Ratio 0.28, 95% CI 0.12-0.61). Such data has fueled the national spread of laws requiring protective helmets for bikers. (Injury.2015 Jul 29.[Epub ahead of print]. Bicycle helmets are highly protective against traumatic brain injury within a dense urban setting)

The CDC has also studied bicycle-related deaths in the USA, noting 29,711 cyclist deaths between 1975-2012. Annual cyclist fatalities declined from a high of 955 in 1975 to 717 in 2012. Although rates for cyclist mortality decreased 44% during this period, cyclist mortality rates for adults aged 35-74 years have increased since 1975.The largest increase was seen in adults aged 35–54 years, with the mortality rate increasing nearly threefold, from 0.11 to 0.31 per 100,000. Multifaceted approaches to bicyclist safety have been shown to be effective in increasing bicycling while decreasing traffic injuries and fatalities.  (Bicyclist Deaths Associated with Motor Vehicle Traffic - United States, 1975-2012. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015 Aug 14;64(31):837-41)