Cyclist Fatalities Down, Injuries Up in 2007
The Florida Department of Highway Safety has finally released their 2007 Traffic Crash Facts report. According to crash reports submitted by local police departments and the Highway Patrol bicyclist fatalities declined slightly to 121 (from 124 in 2006) and reported bicyclist injuries increased to 4,303 (from 4,227). The majority of deaths happened to people in the 45-54 year old age group and 5 cyclists less than 15 years old were also killed. Of the 121 fatal crashes, 96 of the cyclists were not wearing a bike helmet. The report does not break it down for bicycle crashes but 39% of all traffic fatalities involved alcohol.
The full report (including county statistics) is online at www.flhsmv.gov/hsmvdocs/CS2007.pdf.
Florida in Top 20 of US States says LAB
The League of American Bicyclists has ranked Florida 20th out of 50 in its inaugural ranking of states for bike friendliness. The Bicycle Friendly States program looked at more than 70 factors in 6 key areas: legislation; policies and programs; infrastructure; education and encouragement; evaluation and planning; and enforcement. The states were scored on responses to a questionnaire sent to FBA and FDOTwhich was used to evaluate Florida’s commitment to bicycling. The top 20-ranked states are:
1 Washington 11 Utah
2 Wisconsin 12 Michigan
3 Arizona 13 North Carolina
4 Oregon 14 Hawaii
5 Minnesota 15 South Carolina
6 Maine 16 Massachusetts
7 California 17 Vermont
8 Illinois 18 Wyoming
9 New Jersey 19 Nevada
10 New Hampshire 20 Florida
The full story is on the League’s website: http://www.bikeleague.org/news/090508bfs.php.