Cherry Hill Personal Injury Lawyers: Improving Bicycle Accident Reports

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of bike riders on the roads both for recreation and commuting purposes. In either case, there has been an increase in bicycle accidents, some leading to bicycle accident fatalities. Data from the National Highway Traffic Administration showed that in 2012, 726 bicyclists were killed and 49,000 bicyclists were injured.

A recent study from Harvard was published in the Journal Injury and Prevention regarding bicycle accidents. The purpose of the study was to help increase safety for bicyclists by investigating the causes of the bike accidents; however, it was difficult to determine the causes due to the lack of detail included in police reports.   As a result, the study recommends that the accident reporting method for bicycle accidents should be improved.

Bicycle Accident Reporting Methods

Currently, when a car accident causes a bicycle injury, law enforcement handwrites the details of the accident on paper, with few specifics and codes regarding the nature of the accident. A better tool, which allows the reporting of detailed information, needs to be developed for police to document bicycle accidents involving cars. An electronic tablet with drop down menus was suggested to improve bicycle accident reporting. The more comprehensive data collected from the accidents could be entered into a database, which could then be analyzed in order to determine fault.

Interactive Crash Map in Boston

Boston’s Cyclist’s Union is currently working on an interactive crash map with data from the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI), the Boston Police Department and other organizations to analyze the origin of bicycle accidents. The BARI’s current crash map is being used to show dangerous areas in the city so safety for bicyclist’s can improve. The development of the Bike Union’s map will provide additional information and generate data to determine the locations where clusters of bicycle accidents occur as well as if there are similar causes of these accidents. For example, the data may show that cyclists often crash into open taxi doors, which could lead to the installation of sliding doors in taxis. The goal for researchers is to have a system that is used universally throughout the United States.

Cherry Hill Personal Injury Lawyers at DiTomaso Law Represent Bike Riders Injured in Accidents

Being involved in accident while riding a bicycle can lead to serious injuries and lifelong care. The experienced Cherry Hill personal injury lawyers at DiTomaso Law provide aggressive representation to get you the compensation that you deserve. If you or a loved one have been injured in a bicycle accident call us for a confidential consultation at 856-414-0010 or contact us online. Our personal injury lawyers offer a lower contingency fee rate than many other injury lawyers in South Jersey.

We have two convenient locations in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania serving clients throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, Camden County, Cherry Hill, Mount Holly, Delaware County, Bucks County, Montgomery County and Chester County.