By Charles Pekow — First, the encouraging news: traffic fatalities in the United States fell by 4.3% in 2023 from 2022. Now the distressing part: pedalcyclist fatalities went up 4.4% over the year—49 more deaths. The figures come from the final Traffic Safety Facts Research Note published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for 2023 (crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813705).
The number of pedalcyclist injuries increased a statistically significant 8.2%, as 3,794 more riders got hurt. The figures include e-bikes, mechanical bikes, tricycles, unicycles, and other pedal-powered vehicles.
NHTSA reports that of the 1,166 pedalcyclist fatalities, 274 (23%) were involved in hit-and-run crashes in 2023. That represents a 1.9% increase, or five more deaths than in 2022.
NHTSA’s press office says the agency can’t explain what causes changes in the accident rates. On a cheerier note, we reported last issue that NHTSA’s preliminary data for the first half of 2024 showed a slight decline in cyclist deaths (cyclingwest.com/advocacy/cyclist-death-rates-down-in-2024/). Of course, that means that the death rate picked up in the latter half of the year..
