March 9, 2011 2:21 PM

Sally Meyerhoff: Athlete's fatal bike crash one of hundreds each year

By
David W Freeman
Topics
News

Sally Meyerhoff.

Sally Meyerhoff.

(Credit: personal photo)

(CBS/AP) MARICOPA, ARIZ. - The bicycle accident that took the life of 27-year-old marathoner Sally Meyerhoff is a tragic reminder of just how dangerous bicycling can be.

Meyerhoff - winner of the women's 2011 P.F. Chang's Rock 'n Roll Marathon and a qualifier for the 2012 Olympic marathon trials - died instantly on Tuesday after colliding with a truck while riding her bike here.

Such accidents are all too common. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says bicycle-related mishaps send more than 500,000 people each year to emergency rooms - and kill more than 700.

Helmets are one key to safe bicycling. Wearing a helmet that fits properly can cut the risk of head injuries by more than 85 percent, according to the National Traffic Safety Administration.

Want to know what else you can do to stay safe on two wheels? Click here.

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Bicycle safety: 11 death-defying rules

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Add a Comment
by wildbell April 1, 2011 12:35 AM EDT
In the wake of this tragedy CBS so narrowly offers that whether a cyclist will live or die is far more a matter of helmet usage than it is only being as safe as the worst driver one might encounter. As such, let's imagine how many of the 44,000 vehicle deaths annually could be averted if we mandated buckets be worn by any and all occupants.
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by bikelawyer March 18, 2011 8:58 AM EDT
Shame on CBS News for using Sally Meyerhoff's death to publish a short stupid article proclaiming bicycle fatalities are "are too common" and that "helmets are a key to safe bicycling." National "journalists" should do more research than grabbing a couple numbers and making fatalistic pronouncements about the "safety" of cycling.

In FACT, MILLIONS of cyclists ride TENS OF MILLIONS of miles each year. Last year there were 630 deaths. 40% of those deaths occurred in three states, CA, FL & TX. Cycling fatalities are DOWN 40% from 1975, when 1003 cyclists were killed.

The "500,000 injuries" figure that is bandied about in the media includes all the kids who fall off tricycles. In fact, the link supplied by CBS shows a picture of a little girl on a trike and indicates "...children 15 years and younger accounted for 59% of all bicycle-related injuries seen in US emergency departments..."

For adults riding bicycles as legitimate users of the public roadways the figures are far lower. In Ohio in 2010, for example, there were TEN cycling fatalities and around only 1,500 injuries.
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by bicyclecommuter March 10, 2011 3:02 PM EST
Where to start...

1) Why is it that whenever a bicycle accident or cycling death is reported, it ALWAYS mentions helmets? Where in this article does it say she wasn't wearing a helmet? While I do choose to wear a helmet myself, I'm very aware that if I'm involved with a collision with a motor vehicle that it will likely do me very little good. Yes, it might help protect me against secondary impacts, but the primary impact is the one that will likely kill me and a helmet will do little good.

2) How dangerous a bicycle can be? Let's stop and think for a minute here.... Any time a cyclists is killed it makes the news. What about motorists? Last time I checked there were some 44K+ deaths annually as a result of motor vehicle accidents. Why don't we label cars as dangerous? You rarely hear of a cyclist killing themselves because they hit a tree or slid off the road in the snow or flipped the bike over because they took a turn too fast. Seems like we are labeling the wrong mode of transportation as "dangerous" here.
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by HankCancel March 10, 2011 2:42 PM EST
Your last sentence makes you sound mental! Get help...
Reply to this comment
by HankCancel March 10, 2011 2:50 PM EST
@westanar
by HankCancel March 10, 2011 12:48 PM EST
This is biased, irresponsible journalism! Bicycling is not dangerous! It's vehicular drivers that are dangerous to vulnerable road users (bicyclist, pedestrians). To blame the cyclist for being hit instead of blaming the driver for speeding and/or distracted driving shows the author is either anti-cyclist or using this vehicular manslaughter opportunity to sell bicycle helmets. Either way you are wrong!!! Bicycles have every right to be on the road. It is the responsibility of the vehicular driver to drive safely and watch out for vulnerable road users. Why isn't the title of the article, "Driver Manslaughters Bicyclist With Vehicle! What Can Be Done To Protect Vulnerable Road Users From Reckless Drivers"?...
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by olbabee March 10, 2011 8:42 AM EST
I ride a bicycle regularly but I would never ride on the street just designated walking & riding paths. Riding on the street is not if, but when you will be hit. You put your life in your own hands.
Reply to this comment
by wildbell April 1, 2011 12:44 AM EDT
Actually olababee, with you're generalized presumption regarding the inherent dangers of bicycling in the streets your last sentence would make more sense if it read: "You put your life in the hands of others."
by BenjaGreenberg March 10, 2011 6:40 AM EST
What a sick statement: "how dangerous bicycling can be". All dangers derive from metal vehicle weighing 2 tons and more being propulsed by powerful combustion engines. The humble bicycle is not dangerous at all.

Connecting a tragedy like a pedestrian or cyclist being run over by a truck to helmet wearing is simply infuriating.
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