ADULT BICYCLISTS IN THE UNITED STATES: CHARACTERISTICS AND RIDING EXPERIENCE IN 1996

In December 1996, 20% (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%) had been returned. Of these, 19% were rejected due to incompleteness or inconsistent responses, leaving 1,956 valid surveys. The "average" respondent was a 48-year-old, married (66%) male (80%) professional (48%) who rode 4670 km in 1996. Just over 9% 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% of the incidents, whereas running into a fixed object happened 14% of the time. Moving motor vehicles were involved in 11% of the crashes and another bicycle in 9%. 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%, respectively). Multiuse trails have a crash rate about 40% greater than would be expected based on the kilometers cycled on them, whereas cycling on the sidewalk is extremely dangerous.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.3141/1636-01
• Summary URL:
  http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=ADULT+BICYCLISTS+IN+THE+UNITED+STATES%3a+CHARACTERISTICS+AND+RIDING+EXPERIENCE+IN+1996&author=W.+Moritz&publication_year=1998
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309065089
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1636, Bicycle and Pedestrian Research 1998.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Moritz, W E
• Publication Date: 1998

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 1-7
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1636
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adults; Bicycle crashes; Bicycle lanes; Commuting; Crash rates; Crash types; Cyclists; Data collection; Demographics; Sidewalks; Streets; Surveys; Trails; Travel patterns; Trip length; Trip purpose; Vehicle characteristics
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Society; Terminals and Facilities; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00757458
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309065089
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Dec 4 1998 12:00AM