Bicycle and Large Truck Fatalities Increase, While National Traffic Fatalities Fall

Even though last year traffic fatalities dropped to their lowest level since 1949, bicycle and large truck deaths are on the rise, and not by a small amount. While overall traffic-related deaths down 1.9%, bicyclist deaths are up 8.7% and large trucks fatalities are up 20% from the previous year.
While studying these findings, experts have agreed on a few reasons for the increase in bicyclist fatalities. Firstly, as the nation “goes green” there are simply more bikes on our roads. More bicyclists are commuting to and from work, and more people biking for pleasure. In fact, Washington D.C. Reported a 175% increase of bicyclists traveling during rush hour since 2004.

“Our culture is beginning to move away from driving and toward healthier and greener modes of transportation's,” said Jonathan Adkins, deputy executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association. “We need to be able to accommodate all these forms of transportation safely.”

Although experts are able to provide explanations as to why the rate of bicyclist deaths has increased, they are by and large puzzled by the drastic increase in large truck fatalities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is working with the Federal Motor Carrier Administration to retrieve more information in order to better understand the increase. With the limited information they have gathered, the administration is citing higher speed limits which lead to more fatal accidents, as well as the gradual improvement of the economy which has led to more trucks returning to the roads.

Although the 2011 overall decrease in traffic-related deaths was something to be proud of, preliminary crash data for this year is showing that motor vehicle deaths and injuries are trending upward again.