Fatalities involving bicycles: a non-random population

Bicycle riders constitute a small subgroup of all roadway deaths. Bicycle/motor vehicle collision fatalities are less frequent than pedestrian/motor vehicle fatalities. Studies have shown that non-fatal injuries of bicyclists are not randomly distributed, but follow age and sex trends that differ in the U.S. and Scandinavia. Although the bicycle-related fatalities reviewed herein do not constitute a complete profile of all such cases within our geographic area, review of these cases does provide insight into the non-random population of fatally injured cyclists in urban and rural America. A retrospective demographic and forensic medical review of 36 bicycle-related fatalities was done to clarify features of this non-random population. Consistent features including age and sex, patterned injuries and risk-taking behavior are discussed. Three of 24 (12%) adult cyclists died of homicidal gunshot wounds.