Adult Bicyclists in the United States: Characteristics and Riding Experience in 1996

Abstract

In December 1996, 20 percent (4,712) of the League of American Bicyclists members were surveyed about their cycling experiences during calendar year 1996. The 33 questions included bicycle type and equipment, distribution of bicycle trips by purpose (e.g., work, on-road recreation), total distance cycled, commuting habits, accidents, and demographic data. The survey was designed to update one done by Kaplan in 1975. By the March 31, 1997, deadline over 2,400 (51 percent) had been returned. Of these, 19 percent were rejected due to incompleteness or inconsistent responses, leaving 1,956 valid surveys. The “average” respondent was a 48-year-old, married (66 percent) male (80 percent) professional (48 percent) who rode 4670 km in 1996. Just over 9 percent reported having had a serious crash (resulting in at least $50 of property damage or medical expense) in 1996. Based on the experience reported by these cyclists, the average cyclist in this group could be expected to ride for 11 years before having such a crash. Falls accounted for 59 percent of the incidents, whereas running into a fixed object happened 14 percent of the time. Moving motor vehicles were involved in 11 percent of the crashes and another bicycle in 9 percent. A relative danger index is calculated that shows that streets with bike lanes have a significantly lower crash rate than either major or minor streets without any bicycle facilities (38 and 56 percent, respectively). Multiuse trails have a crash rate about 40 percent greater than would be expected based on the miles cycled on them, whereas cycling on the sidewalk is extremely dangerous.