We see them all the time on our roads throughout the Treasure Valley. Heck, sometimes I see them when I'm driving into work well before sunrise. Boise has a lot of bicyclists, but just how safe is Boise for those that ride the nonmotorized two-wheelers to and from work?

A new study from CLIQ finds that Boise is the ninth safest city for bike riders in the country. The group reports in a release that nationally there has been a rise in fatalities. 

 After decreasing for many years, cyclist traffic fatalities have been trending upwards since 2010. In 2019, 846 cyclists were killed. The increase is likely due to several factors—worsening traffic, more drivers distracted by smartphones, and an increase in the number of cyclists on the road. Researchers ranked the 100 most populous cities according to annual cyclist fatalities per capita using the most recent data available.

However, the city of trees ranked in the top ten when it comes to biker safely. In Boise, one cyclist was killed between 2015 and 2019, which amounted to 9.1% of all vehicle fatalities over that span. On average, 0.9 cyclists are killed each year for every one million Boise City residents. Of the 100 most populated U.S. cities, Boise is the 9th safest for cyclists.

Here is a look at how Boise compares to the national average when it comes to biker safety.

  • Annual cyclist fatalities per 1M residents: 0.9
  • Annual cyclist fatalities per 1M (compared to average): -65%
  • Total cyclist fatalities (2015–2019): 1
  • Cyclist fatalities as a share of total vehicle fatalities: 9.1%
  • Share of workers that commute by bike: 3.1%

For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:

  • Annual cyclist fatalities per 1M residents: 2.6
  • Annual cyclist fatalities per 1M (compared to average): N/A
  • Total cyclist fatalities (2015–2019): 4,205
  • Cyclist fatalities as a share of total vehicle fatalities: 2.3%
  • Share of workers that commute by bike: 0.5%

On the other hand, here is a list of the top five most dangerous cities for bicyclists:

  1. Stockton, California
  2. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  3. Tampa, Florida
  4. Sacramento, California
  5. New Orleans, Louisiana

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