Florida tops list of dangerous places for bicyclists

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Riding a bike in Florida is very dangerous, and the stats show it.

Florida has the highest rate of bicycle deaths of any state in the nation according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While other states have found ways to drop the number of bicycle deaths during two periods measured over the last three decades, Florida has barely made a dent, reducing the number by less than 10 percent. Only Wyoming was worse.

On the other hand, the study found safety seems to be improving nationwide for bicyclists, with the number of deaths per 100,000 people declining 44 percent from 0.41 to 0.23 during the period measured from 1975 to 1979 and from 2008 to 2012. That's according to the new CDC report titled "Bicyclist Deaths Associated with Motor Vehicle Traffic - United States, 1975-2012."

The steepest decline measured was among children younger than 15.

The report also shows that bicyclists die on U.S. roads at a rate double that of vehicle occupants- a scary stat because bicyclists only account for 1 percent of all modes of transportation.

Mortality rates for adults aged 35–74 years increased significantly during the study period. The largest increase was among adults between 35 and 54 years old, with the mortality rate increasing nearly threefold.

The overall mortality rate for males was six times greater than the overall mortality rate for females. In 2012, males accounted for 87 percent of total bicycle deaths in the United States. This proportion increased over the 38-year study period, from 79 percent in 1977 to a peak of 90 percent in 2001.

Many factors likely contribute to trends in bicycling fatalities, including prevalence of bicycling, road design and engineering, traffic law enforcement, driver and bicyclist behavior, helmet use, and traffic volume.

Although bicycles account for a relatively small share of trips across all modes of transportation, the share of total household trips taken by bicycle has doubled over the last 35 years.

Click here for more information from the CDC.