Boston bike accident attorney Neil Burns reports that a helpful study has been undertaken by the Boston Cyclists’ Union regarding the locus of bike accidents in and around Boston. Their interactive bike map of Boston boasts of being the “best source of online information available on bike crashes” in Boston. I’ll bet they are correct. The map includes Cambridge bike accidents and Brookline bike accidents and, of course, offers satellite and hybrid views. The most alarming finding, to a motor vehicle accident attorney was that only 34% of those bikers picked up by ambulances were wearing helmets.
Using ambulance records from May 2010 to October 2010, they pieced together a large amount of information including categorizing types of accidents, helmet use, type of accident and bike and motor vehicle speeds. They have some preliminary findings, although the data is insufficient to be a scientific survey. Nevertheless, they found that crashes seem “to correlate more with topography and population density than perceived ‘bikeyness’ of the neighborhood.” Their efforts should be commended.
They did not correlate findings regarding helmet use and seriousness of accidents. As personal injury attorneys, we see head injury cases all too often. Statistics show helmets keep your heads safer. Tom Brady wears a helmet on the field and the Jets sacking him last night were tough, but not as big or as fast as cars, sport utility vehicles, and trucks. We urge our clients and friends to wear helmets.