California Bicyclist Killed by DUI Driver

cyclist in road killed by DUI driverA 59-year-old man in Oceanside was recently killed in a bicycle accident. The man was riding his bike in the late afternoon when a 19-year-old woman driving a 2002 Ford Explorer veered off to the right of the road, striking the cyclist. He died at the scene.

Police arrested the woman on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs. She could face charges including felony driving under the influence of drugs and felony vehicular manslaughter.

Fatal Bicycle Accident Statistics

The number of cyclists killed in collisions in California has remained consistent over the course of the last few years: 164 in 2013, 142 in 2014, 153 in 2015 and 143 in 2016.

In the United States, in 2015, more than two people died in bicycle accidents every day of the year. And in 35 percent of those accidents, alcohol was involved.

With more than 800 deaths every year in bicycle accidents, it is clear that riding a bicycle does come with certain risks. Bicycle fatalities represent less than 2 percent of all traffic fatalities – however, bicycle trips account for only one percent of all trips in the United States. Cyclists, as you can see, are overrepresented in the data. But, this could be because we do not have a reliable source of exposure data, since we don’t know how many miles cyclists travel each year and how long it takes them to travel those miles.



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