The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its analysis of roadway injury and fatality numbers for 2022. If you don’t read any further, know this: while roadway deaths are down slightly overall, cyclist roadway deaths are the highest in recorded history.
Fewer people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2022 than in 2021 – by a mere 1.7 percent. That’s good!
What’s not good is that that number of 42,514 people killed results in a higher fatality per capita number than the rest of the developed world by multitudes. U.S. roads are deadly for everyone, but the numbers from the NHTSA say the numbers are higher than ever.
In 2022, car drivers killed 1,105 cyclists. That’s higher than any year in the history of the reporting system (starting in 1975), and up about 13 percent from 2021. Included in this increase in fatalities were pedestrians, who saw an 11 percent rise in fatalities from 2021.
JUST IN: Newly released data shows there were 716 fewer people killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes on U.S. roadways during 2022. ⬇️
While it’s an improvement from 2021, we still have a long way to go.
Drive Safely. Always. No Matter What. pic.twitter.com/zGu8pr38I1
— nhtsagov (@NHTSAgov) April 1, 2024
It appears that the U.S. has a long way to go despite the dip the NHTSA data showed.
The key numbers
- Cyclist fatalities are up 13 percent from 2021.
- Non-occupants killed (pedestrians, cyclists, and other folks outside of the car) are up 2.3 percent from 2021.
- The overall number of fatalities occurring outside of a vehicle involved in the accident is up 16 percent from 1996 (20 percent to 36 percent).
- Cyclist fatalities are up 79 percent in urban areas over the last 10 years, and up 9 percent over the last two years. The overall fatality rate per 100 million miles traveled is up 55 percent over the last 10 years, and down 4.2 percent over the last two.
- Of the 1,105 cyclist fatalities, 24 percent of them were hit-and-run crashes.
Who is involved?
These accident statistics come from when one or more drivers are involved in a crash, whether it results in fatality or just an injury. ‘Pedalcyclists,’ as noted in the report, include people on bikes with or without some form of assist.
If you look at overall trends, roadway crashes and fatal deaths haven’t changed too much over the last few years. The overall fatality rate for all roadway users has decreased by 3.6 percent from 2021. But the number is much less rosy for people on bikes.
In 2022, more drivers had killed non-drivers than any other year prior. More specifically, the number of cyclists killed by a driver increased by a whopping 13 percent from 2021. Cyclists injured weren’t much better, up 11 percent from 2021.
Those increases in cyclist deaths varied between urban and rural areas. Cyclist fatalities are up 9 percent in urban areas and a whopping 35 percent in rural areas over the last two years. 24 percent of these cyclist deaths were hit-and-runs in 2022.
These numbers are part of an interesting trend over the last 10 years, where cyclist fatalities in urban areas have increased by 79 percent over the last 10 years, while rural areas have seen a 21 percent decrease over the same span.
The amount of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) has changed, with a nearly 10-percent increase in rural areas over the past 10 years and a 6-percent increase in urban areas over the same time frame. Those numbers don’t quite answer the question as to why we’ve seen such a big increase in cyclist deaths. So what’s the deal?
Why are cyclist fatalities on the rise?
The NHTSA offers three key behavioral reasons relating to overall trends. The first is speeding, which accounted for 2.8 percent fewer fatalities in 2022. Alcohol-impaired fatalities stayed about the same, dropping 0.7 percent in 2022. And the number of fatalities due to folks riding without seat belts decreased by 4.8 percent in 2022. None of those tell the story of why cyclist fatalities are on the rise.
New @NHTSAgov fatality data shows 1,105 bicyclist deaths in 2022
That is up over 13% from 2021
That is the most bicyclist deaths ever recorded by the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (created in 1975)
We need to do better https://t.co/xWP814rKyt pic.twitter.com/OaRGk3xf2b
— Ken McLeod (@Kenmcld) April 2, 2024
My take? There’s no one reason why cyclist fatalities continue to be on the rise. If we had to pick one reason, however, it’s this: cyclist fatalities continue to be on the rise because the U.S. continues to prioritize moving drivers down streets and roads as quickly as possible. Everyone else is an afterthought.
Earlier this year, we had the chance to get with PeopleForBikes to understand what makes the best bike lanes in the U.S. But take a look at the surrounding roads around these bike lanes, and they continue to prioritize cars. That comes from signal light timing, dangerous intersections, or a lack of wayfinding signs to help cyclists navigate their city.
Studies show that most people still don’t feel safe riding in most communities. That’s even with the added bike lanes, protected bike lanes, and off-street trails.
You can say that places need car-free zones. You can say that drivers need to be better educated. You can say that e-bike riders need licenses. You can even say cars need to add connected technologies to increase safety. But what really needs to change is how our roads are built. Build them for vulnerable communities – on road, that’s people walking, rolling, or biking – and go from there. The data already shows accidents will go down, and so will fatalities.
California’s new law that allows cyclists to go whenever a crosswalk sign is on is a great place to start, relatively simple to implement, and compared to several other examples, extremely affordable.
Even with cyclist data being combined, there isn’t enough urgency accompanying these numbers. Until our local traffic agencies start to make serious moves, we’re likely going to keep seeing posts like the one from the NHTSA celebrating the small wins while people continue to die on our roadways.
Welcome to the Urbanist Update. My job here might be as a tech editor, but I’ve also spent tons of time studying transportation, city planning, and engineering. Here are some of the things I’ve found interesting over the past week related to biking in cities, cycling infrastructure, and urbanism.
What is urbanism? In short, it is the study of how the inhabitants of an urban area interact with their towns and cities. If you care about building sustainable communities that let you live a happy and healthy life, then this is the spot for you. See previous Updates here.