Cycling is one of the best ways to get around in Oakland. It is one of the most efficient ways to travel while being green and healthy. If you haven’t tried it, you’re missing out.
However, some people choose not to ride bicycles due to safety concerns. While bicycle accidents in Oakland are down, there are still reasons why bicycle incidents occur. Here are some reasons why cycling incidents decreased in Oakland over the last five years.
Buffered Bike Lanes
The City of Oakland has been working to make traffic safer for cyclists and pedestrians. One of the changes is buffered bike lanes. The purpose of these lanes is to separate cyclists from cars, making it easier for cyclists to ride safely.
According to a study by the Transportation Research Board, bicycle injuries decreased significantly after installing buffering bike lanes in San Francisco. The study also found a significant decrease in the number of severe injuries among bicyclists who regularly rode in the buffered bike lane compared to those who did not.
A decrease in serious injuries was apparent among cyclists riding in the new buffers compared with those not riding there. Oakland hopes to reduce their injury rate even further by implementing these improvements around the city.
Increased Safe Riding Awareness
Bicycle injuries in Oakland have declined, but the rates are still high. The most common cause of bicycle injuries is collisions with cars, which are the leading cause of bicycle fatalities.
Improving bicycle safety increases awareness about the risks and dangers associated with bicycling. Bicycle education and training programs help people understand how to ride safely, including techniques for avoiding obstacles on the road, not riding at night, and wearing a helmet. These programs also help educate drivers about safe driving around bicycles.
Bicycle Infrastructure Improvements
Accidents will happen when there are more roads for cars but fewer for bikes. But when there are fewer cars on the road, fewer accidents happen too! In addition, passive traffic measures such as speed bumps can help prevent collisions between bicyclists and vehicles by slowing down traffic and making it safer for bicyclists to pass through intersections safely without having vehicles come up behind them suddenly.
Better Enforcement of Bicycle Laws
Oakland is a city that has been trying to crack down on bicyclists who break the law. The city council has made it a top priority to ensure that bicyclists obey all traffic laws and ride safely.
The police department has been putting more officers on bicycles and cracking down on bicyclists who don’t follow the rules of the road. The police department has also started using cameras to catch bicyclists breaking the law.
With better enforcement of bicycle laws by police officers on bikes and more cameras recording what they see, they can spend less time looking for violations and more time enforcing laws.
Better Education About Bike Safety
Another reason why injury rates are decreasing is that people are learning how dangerous it can be to ride a bike without wearing a helmet or following other traffic laws. Many people don’t realize just how life-threatening this activity can be until they get into an accident.
Cyclists are putting themselves at risk if they’re riding without the proper safety gear. The best way to keep yourself safe from collisions is to wear your helmet during every ride. Items like helmets and lights go a long way to supporting a safe bike ride.
If you don’t wear one, you should ensure that your lights are working correctly by checking them regularly for damage or broken parts. In addition, you should also ensure that your tires are appropriately inflated throughout every ride so that they do not blow out due to air pressure loss during longer trips or heavy use, which can happen without notice.
Poor bike maintenance, such as improper brakes or tire quality issues, can lead to accidents.
Accessible Biking Spaces
Oakland is a city where people love to bike. The problem is that the city’s roads don’t favor bikes, and many cyclists are injured. More than a year after the city of Oakland began building more accessible bike parking spaces, the number of bicycle injuries decreased.
The plan also calls for planning and design standards and facilities to be built to increase the number of people who ride bikes in Oakland.
The city has been working with the community to develop new bike infrastructure over the last year. It has recently completed several projects to make it easier for people to get around on two wheels.
New bike racks encourage more people to ride bicycles as a transportation strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The city also launched an educational campaign to ride a bike safely.
As the City of Oakland and non-profit organizations like Bike East Bay work together to install an additional 200 miles of bike lanes, the number of cash payouts made to cyclists who have been injured in accidents this year so far has decreased by half. The 2022 Oakland Bicycle Accident Study cites that 89 bicycle accident injuries occurred in 2021, as opposed to 188 in 2017.
Cities with more significant commuter car cultures may have more bike accidents because of increased traffic, but safe cycling practices and helmet use can help offset this risk. Cyclists who obey traffic signs and wear helmets are less prone to injuries while riding in Oakland if they do get in an accident.
If you are ever injured while riding your bike in Oakland, speak to a local lawyer who can help with your claim.