New Study Ranks US States Where Cyclists Are Most at Risk

New Study Ranks US States Where Cyclists Are Most at Risk

VoM News Desk | September 11, 2024 | 09:31 PM IST | Featured by VoM, Featured Edition, World | Follow on Google News

New Study Ranks US States Where Cyclists Are Most at Risk

New Study Ranks US States Where Cyclists Are Most at Risk

• New study reveals that the U.S. state where cyclists are most at risk is New Hampshire, with the highest danger score, reflecting high density of cycle commuters on roads and frequent fatal accidents.
• Mississippi ranks second, having the highest rate of fatal crashes involving cyclists, 5.73 per capita.
• Tennessee stands out with the longest bike lanes that spread over 6,153 miles.

A new study by J&Y Law analyzed all U.S. states to identify the ones where cyclists are at risk the most. The study takes into account the number of cyclists, fatal crashes per cycle commuters as well as road quality and the length of bike lanes. All the data is collected from open reports by World Population Review, Bike Guard, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The final score takes into account all described metrics and ranks the states from the most dangerous to the least.

The state where the cyclists are at risk the most is New Hampshire, with the danger score of 55.9, reflecting high commuter density on the roads and frequent crashes involving cyclists. The state has the highest road quality in the United States but the short bike lanes and high density of cycle commuters create an accident-prone environment.

Mississippi takes second place in the ranking of the U.S. states where cyclists are most at risk, with the danger score of 52.4. The state has the highest rate of fatal crashes, involving cyclists, 5.73 per 1,000 commuters. Despite having a population that is two times larger than in Rhode Island, the states have a similar number of cyclists. 

Texas ranks third, getting a score of 48.2. There are over 50,000 cycle commuters in the state and the fatal crash rate is quite high at 1.86 per 1,000 cyclists. The bike lanes in Texas are only 483.6 miles long, three times less than in Mississippi. This creates the second-highest density of cyclists on the road which can be a significant danger.

Alabama holds fourth position, scoring 44.3. The state ranks 4th among all U.S. for road quality but the rate of fatal crashes involving cyclists is high with 2.93, higher than in Texas and New Hampshire. Alabama also has the longest biking lanes in the top ten, providing enough space for cyclists.

Arizona is fifth in the ranking of the U.S. states where cyclists are at risk the most, with the danger score of 42.9. The state ranks just above Texas in overall road quality but Arizona has the highest density of cyclists in the ranking, creating difficult traffic conditions. Compared to other states, Arizona has a lower rate of fatal accidents involving cyclists, at 0.78 per 1,000.

Florida takes sixth place, scoring 40.6. Another state with good roads, Florida has extensive bike lanes with a total length of over 5,000 miles. Over 113,000 people choose to travel by bike,  the highest number in the ranking. The state is still very dangerous for cyclists because of many fatal accidents, 2.02 per 1,000 cycle commuters. 

Delaware follows closely with seventh place and a danger score of 40. The state has the second highest rates of fatal accidents involving cyclists, following only Alabama. There are also only 185 miles of bike lanes in the state and the cyclist density rate on roads is higher here than in Mississippi or Alabama.

In eighth place is Tennessee, getting a score of 36.2. The quality of the roads here is lower than in Florida and New Hampshire and road accidents are quite common, with 2.36 fatal accidents per 1,000 cycle commuters.

Oregon is ninth, with a danger score of 33.6. Over 88,000 people use bikes for traveling and the high commuter density creates an accident-prone environment, similar to New Hampshire and Texas. The state also has the highest density of people who use bikes, with 20.8 per 1,000 people.

Georgia closes the ranking of the states where cyclists are most at risk with tenth place and a score of 31.5. The state has better roads than Tennessee and Georgia but the road safety in Georgia is low, with 1.54 fatal accidents per 1,000 cyclists.

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