In their bicycling promotion work, Ecology Action in Santa Cruz prepared this map of 2008 Santa Cruz bike collisions.
View Ecology Action Produced Map of Reported Bicycle Collisions in Santa Cruz County, 2008 in a larger map
The blue bubbles show cyclist at fault; red bubbles are motorist at fault; green means that fault was undetermined. According to Ecology Action, 221 crashes were reported in 2008, although many more are not reported. There was a 26% increase of bike crashes with injuries, 189 total, compared to the average from the preceding three years of crash figures.
The two 2008 fatalities are both green:
- The first was Chris Rock on Mission Street near Bay. He was cycling along the edge of the road when a passing cement truck merged right into Rock.
- Lucian Gregg was cycling downhill on East Cliff next to the San Lorenzo River on his brakeless fixie when he collided into the back of a stopped delivery truck. There were no witnesses to this collision.
By comparison, 27 traffic fatalities and 1,183 injuries out of nearly 3,000 reported traffic collisions were reported in Santa Cruz County in 2008. About half (13) of those traffic fatalities were on Highway 17 or Highway 1. You won’t ever see General Motors or Ford publishing this in their marketing, but a map showing those collisions would be a sea of red bubbles covering every roadway.
Great final point: “You won’t ever see General Motors or Ford publishing this in their marketing, but a map showing those collisions would be a sea of red bubbles covering every roadway.”
I wonder if the FTC can go after auto companies for false advertising. Why? Car commercials on TV show driving being done in impossible situations, that being car-free/traffic free roads.