Transportation
How Better Data on Bike Crashes Could Lead to Safer Streets for All
A new survey of collision reporting practices reveals a ton of room for improvement.
The United States saw a nearly 62 percent increase in bicycle commuting between 2000 and 2013. But when it comes to reporting crashes between bikes and motor vehicles, police departments around the country are still using incident forms designed for an earlier era.
A new study suggests these outdated reporting methods, which often don’t account for essential differences between the two modes of transport, represent a crucial lost opportunity. If officers recorded more detailed information about such collisions, says the study’s lead author, Dr. Anne Lusk of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, that data could be used to design streets and intersections that would be significantly safer for everyone.