A Description of Fatal Bicycle Truck Accidents in the United States: 2000 to 2010

Bicycling is being encouraged across the US and the world as a low-impact, environmentally friendly mode of transportation. In the US, many states and cities, especially cities facing congestion issues, are encouraging cycling as an alternative to automobiles. However, as cities grow and consumption increases, freight traffic in cities will increase as well, leading to higher amounts of interactions between cyclists and trucks. This paper will describe where and how accidents between cyclists and trucks occur. From 2000 to 2010, 807 bicyclists were killed the United States in accidents involving trucks. In 2009, trucks accounted for 9.5% of fatal bicycle accidents, despite trucks only accounting for 4.5% of registered vehicles. The typical fatal bike-truck accident happens in an urban area on an arterial street with a speed limit of 35 or 45 mph. It is about equally likely to occur mid-block or at an intersection. Most accidents involved trucks going straight (56%), and right-turning trucks were involved in a much larger number of accidents (24%) than left turning trucks (7%). Methods such as providing bicycle lanes, or even physically separated bicycle tracks, will not be sufficient to address bicycle-truck collisions, as a significant number of accidents (49%) occur in intersections or are intersection related. Cities with a higher mode-share of bicycling had a lower rate of bicycle-truck fatality accidents.