By Charles Pekow — Men die in cycling crashes at far higher rates than women—a pattern that holds across most of the United States. A five-year study by the Bicycle Accident Lawyers Group, an Arizona-based firm that represents injured cyclists, found the national male fatality rate is 74 percent higher. But in 13 states, the trend flips—sometimes dramatically.
In Idaho, women were 60 percent more likely to die in cycling crashes. Montana showed a gap of about 47 percent, and Utah 18 percent. The contrast with neighboring states is striking: in Colorado and Nevada, men were 170 percent and 160 percent more likely to be killed, respectively. In smaller states, however, limited data may make firm conclusions difficult.
States with higher female fatality rates span both rural and urban areas. Only Florida and California reported more female cycling deaths than Arizona, which ranked second nationally in per-capita deaths among women. Arizona also ranked third for male cyclist fatalities.
The firm urges planners to account for gender differences when designing safety programs and education efforts. The data come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
The full report is not available online, but the firm maintains a database of bicycle crashes at https://bicycleaccidentlawyers.com/bicycle-accident-statistics/.
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