JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was called to respond to a severe collision between a man on a bicycle and a motor vehicle on the west side of Jacksonville. The bicycle rider did not survive the crash. According to a report filed by First Coast News, deputies responded to the fatal bike accident […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was called to respond to a severe collision between a man on a bicycle and a motor vehicle on the west side of Jacksonville. The bicycle rider did not survive the crash. According to a report filed by First Coast News, deputies responded to the fatal bike accident scene around 1:10 a.m., located on Cassat Avenue in the 400 block section of the road. Deputies found the bicycle rider down in the road on Cassat Avenue when they arrived. The deputies were not able to say at the outset of their investigation if the driver of the car hit the bicycle rider while the rider tried to cross the street or while the bike rider was traveling along the side of the road. The driver of the auto that struck the bicyclist remained at the scene and spoke with police.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) performs its annual data analysis from around the United States generated by fatal traffic crashes, including traffic crashes involving bicycles. The NHTSA’s data shows that there were 857 bike riders killed on America’s roads in 2018. The average age of the bicycle rider who died in 2017 was 47-years-old. Florida recorded the largest number of fatal bicycle crashes in 2017 out of any other state in the U.S. An astounding 125, or 14.5 percent of all deadly bike accident happened in Florida.
Bicycle riders can protect themselves from deadly crashes by understanding a few facts, according to the NHTSA. Most of the fatal bike accidents that happen in the U.S. occur the hours of 6 and 9 p.m. Also, the three-quarters (75 percent) of all fatal bike accidents happened in urban areas compared to rural areas in 2017. Additionally, male riders face a greater risk of death in a collision with a car while bike riding than females. Finally, the NHTSA says that alcohol played a role in 37 percent of all 2017 fatal bike crashes nationwide.