Your Age Might Determine The Severity Of Your New Haven Bicycle Accident

While a New Haven bicycle accident might be less likely to cause you injury or death then an auto accident, it can still happen.  Injuries from accidents involving cyclists can become severe and even lead to death.  If you’re not careful you may find yourself at best, injured and off your bike for a few weeks and at worst missing the whole cycling season and even having permanent injury or death.

You may not be aware of your risks as a cyclist, but there is one key factor that is commonly dictating the type of injury and the severity of the injury and that is age.   According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) there are over 1,000 deaths from bicycle accidents each year.  On top of the number of fatalities caused by bicycle accidents each year there are an estimated 130,000 injuries that occur as the result of bike accidents as well.  The staggering estimation is that these fatalities and injuries cost the United States $23 billion per year.

The numbers tell one story, but you need to look a little deeper into the numbers from there to get a clear picture as to where the difficulties lie.  One of the pictures that forms is a clear delineation between the severity of bike accidents and the ages of those that are injured or killed riding bikes.  The CDC reports the following statistics that relate to injury and death while riding a bike.

• Nearly 1/3 of all bicycle accidents that result in injuries occur among riders who are between the ages of 10-24 years old.
• The highest level of injuries that require medical attention in an emergency room are with those who are considered adolescents or teenagers.
• Bicycle riders who are over the age of 55 years old account for the highest rate of death among all riders.

Along with these statistics gender also plays a role in how often and the severity of an injury occurs.  Male riders are six times more likely to get killed in a bicycle accident than their female counterparts.  The disparity between genders is also apparent in bicycle accidents that result in injuries that are not fatal, but it is slightly more even as male riders are just five times more likely to get injured riding a bike then their female counterparts.

While the CDC does not offer a hypothesis about why these numbers vary so much based on age and gender, they do associate some safety measures with keeping people from becoming seriously injured or killed while riding a bike.  These safety measures are the same for all riders and include always wearing a helmet while riding and also wearing reflective gear when riding at night to avoid an accident.  These interventions have been proven to reduce the risks faced by cyclists who are sharing the road with motorists.

Protecting yourself from a New Haven bicycle accident requires an understanding of your risk factors and the preventative measures that work well in limiting injury and death.  If you take the time to understand these things you will be putting yourself in a better position to keep yourself safe when riding your bicycle on the roads of the Elm City and beyond.

If you find yourself in a situation where you’ve been injured, contact our office and one of our experienced attorneys will work with you to protect your long-term intersests.