BikeLA Report Highlights Need for Better Bike Infrastructure
85% of 2022 bike-related fatalities in Los Angeles occurred on streets with no bike lane
Image: Francis, Adobe Stock
According to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation more than 200 people lose their lives in crashes in the city each year. While this statistic might bring to mind 12 lanes of congestion on the 405, the truth is that almost half of these traffic deaths are bike or pedestrian related. This year, Los Angeles advocacy group, BikeLA did a deep dive into the prior year’s bicycle-related deaths to figure out why these numbers are so high. Their 2023 Bicycle Safety Report reviewed the 26 bicycle related fatalities that occurred in Los Angeles in 2022. The group found four main factors contributed to the fatalities: high speed limits, multi-lane roads, missing bike lanes and poor street lighting.
One salient takeaway from the report is that 85% of the 2022 fatalities occurred on roadways without bike lanes. Additionally, 81% of the fatalities took place in conditions that included two contributing factors and many occurred in historically marginalized communities.
The report offers both infrastructure design and policy recommendations to support a path towards safer streets for cyclists in Los Angeles, which include:
Creating lower speed limits and enforce with speed mitigation infrastructure to speeding and reduce the likelihood of a fatality in the event of a collision.
Improving bike lane design.
Converting underutilized lanes into protected bike infrastructure.
Improving street light reliability.
Directing funding toward communities in need.
Turning to inexpensive short term solutions until larger solutions can processed.
Engaging residents in funding allocation decisions.
Educating cyclists.
Safe bike infrastructure helps prevent tragic fatalities and also encourages more people to ride. An increase in urban cyclists offers benefits in terms of both public and environmental health.
