FACTS

Bike messengers should be aware that any of the following can cause serious bodily harm

1. Motor Vehicle Collisions: Distracted drivers, drivers with road rage, speeding, and even vehicle part failure can all result in a car crash that could easily kill a messenger. 

2. Being “Doored”: When a car passenger opens their door right in front of a bike rider, causing them to crash into the door. 

3. Pedestrians: Pedestrians frequently step right into bike lanes without first looking, causing a collision between body and bike. 

4. Accidents Caused by Poorly Maintained Roads: Towns, townships, cities, and states are responsible for maintaining roads, street signs, and traffic lights. Potholes, missing street signs, and broken sidewalks are all serious issues that could result in an accident. 

5. Injuries Commonly Diagnosed After a Bike Messenger Accident 

• Traumatic Brain Injury: Even with a helmet, a traumatic brain injury can occur. Damage to the brain can cause issues with mobility, fine motor skills, memory, speech, vision, and sense of smell. 
• Spinal Trauma: Damage can impact the vertebrae, spinal cord, nerves, and muscles. 
• Damage To Internal Organs: Any of the internal organs can be bruised, torn, impaled, or punctured in an accident.  

STATS

• The number of deaths from bicycle incidents increased 6% in 2019 and 37% in the last 10 years, from 793 in 2010 to 1,089 in 2019. Of the 1,089 bicyclist deaths in 2019, 712 involved motor vehicles.
• 62 percent of working cyclists interviewed in a 2017 survey by the Biking Public Project said that they had been involved in a motor-vehicle collision at least once, and an average of 30 percent said they had missed work because of work-related injuries in the last year. 
• Bicyclist deaths were 8 times higher in males than females. Alcohol was involved in 37% of crashes.
• The average age of cyclists who died in motor-vehicle collisions increased from 2007, when it was 40, to between 41 and 47 in 2018.
• Around 75% of fatal or serious cyclist accidents occur in urban areas and 80% of cyclist casualties occur in daylight. These injuries are often caused by cyclist and driver inattentiveness.