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Policy statement

NEISS data on bicyclist injuries

5/15-year averages    Year-on-year data   Sample sizes  

The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) is a national probability sample of hospitals in the US. Patient information is collected from each NEISS hospital for every emergency visit involving an injury associated with consumer products (which includes bicycles). From this sample, the total number of product-related injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms nationwide can be estimated.

The following data on bicyclist injuries has been extracted from the NEISS.

5/15-year averages

Deaths due primarily to head injury

The proportion of bicyclist fatalities due primarily to head injury has remained relatively constant since 1991.

1991 - 1995
48%
1996 - 2000
42.5%
2001 - 2005
45%
 
 
1991 - 2005
45%

Year-on-year data

Following is the raw sample count data for all bike injuries from the NEISS for 1991-2005, along with the same data for only juvenile cyclists under the age of 16.

KEY

%Head = percentage of total injuries due to head injury
%Hosp = percentage of total injuries resulting in hospitalization
HH = head injuries resulting in hospitalization
HH/Head = percentage of head injuries resulting in hospitalization
HH/Hosp = percentage of hospitalizations due to head injury
Fatal-Head = fatalities due primarily to head injury

All bicyclists

 
Total
Head
%Head
Hosp
%Hosp
HH
HH/Head
HH/Hosp
Fatal
Fatal-Head
1991
13481
1670
12.4%
607
4.5%
230
13.8%
37.9%
6
3
1992
14761
1810
12.3%
602
4.1%
226
12.5%
37.5%
6
2
1993
14303
1683
11.8%
603
4.2%
212
12.6%
35.2%
8
4
1994
14361
1775
12.4%
616
4.3%
224
12.6%
36.4%
7
2
1995
14284
1727
12.1%
706
4.9%
234
13.5%
33.1%
4
4
1996
14224
1731
12.2%
653
4.6%
222
12.8%
34.0%
6
0
1997
14689
1889
12.9%
649
4.4%
226
12.0%
34.8%
9
5
1998
15784
2029
12.9%
812
5.1%
299
14.7%
36.8%
7
4
1999
16654
2240
13.5%
747
4.5%
258
11.5%
34.5%
10
5
2000
17570
2258
12.9%
792
4.5%
274
12.1%
34.6%
8
3
2001
15891
2165
13.6%
781
4.9%
260
12.0%
33.3%
12
4
2002
15695
2213
14.1%
791
5.0%
317
14.3%
40.1%
10
7
2003
15352
2104
13.7%
835
5.4%
286
13.6%
34.3%
9
5
2004
15417
2260
14.7%
872
5.7%
299
13.2%
34.3%
13
5
2005
15018
2212
14.7%
934
6.2%
312
14.1%
33.4%
14
5

Juvenile bicyclists, under 16 years

 
Total
Head
%Head
Hosp
%Hosp
HH
HH/Head
HH/Hosp
Fatal
Fatal-Head
1991
9401
1290
13.7%
348
3.7%
151
11.7%
43.4%
1
1
1992
10485
1416
13.5%
333
3.2%
137
9.7%
41.1%
2
0
1993
9902
1272
12.8%
337
3.4%
121
9.5%
35.9%
2
2
1994
9576
1284
13.4%
324
3.4%
133
10.4%
41.0%
0
0
1995
9122
1217
13.3%
337
3.7%
123
10.1%
36.5%
2
2
1996
9263
1272
13.7%
331
3.6%
139
10.9%
42.0%
2
0
1997
10367
1467
14.2%
381
3.7%
140
9.5%
36.7%
3
1
1998
10917
1516
13.9%
511
4.7%
191
12.6%
37.4%
1
0
1999
11594
1706
14.7%
427
3.7%
171
10.0%
40.0%
4
3
2000
12147
1736
14.3%
461
3.8%
184
10.6%
39.9%
4
0
2001
10371
1583
15.3%
440
4.2%
165
10.4%
37.5%
3
1
2002
10215
1617
15.8%
417
4.1%
188
11.6%
45.1%
3
3
2003
10070
1467
14.6%
452
4.5%
161
11.0%
35.6%
3
2
2004
10002
1581
15.8%
462
4.6%
180
11.4%
39.0%
4
0
2005
9253
1458
15.8%
447
4.8%
150
10.3%
33.6%
5
2

Samples sizes

KEY

T = Total
SC = Sample count
Est = Estimate of total number of cases in population, extrapolated from sample count
Head = Head injuries
Hosp = Hospitalizations
HH = Hed injuries resulting in hospitalization injury
Fatal-CDC = Total bicycle fatalities based on CDC data (2004-05 data estimated using FARS trends)

All bicyclists

 
T-SC
T-Est
%T-SC
Head-SC
Head-Est
%Head-SC
Hosp-SC
Hosp-Est
%Hosp-SC
1991
13481
567700
2.40%
1670
66815
2.50%
607
22835
2.70%
1992
14761
607615
2.40%
1810
70616
2.60%
602
21446
2.80%
1993
14303
559197
2.60%
1683
62866
2.70%
603
20398
3.00%
1994
14361
570984
2.50%
1775
65688
2.70%
616
20882
2.90%
1995
14284
553064
2.60%
1727
63216
2.70%
706
23410
3.00%
1996
14224
553501
2.60%
1731
61192
2.80%
653
20899
3.10%
1997
14689
567002
2.60%
1889
61861
3.10%
649
20586
3.20%
1998
15784
597284
2.60%
2029
66887
3.00%
812
22222
3.70%
1999
16654
614594
2.70%
2240
71715
3.10%
747
21797
3.40%
2000
17570
627164
2.80%
2258
73747
3.10%
792
20411
3.90%
2001
15891
565742
2.80%
2165
67350
3.20%
781
18685
4.20%
2002
15695
539642
2.90%
2213
62337
3.60%
791
19062
4.10%
2003
15352
535100
2.90%
2104
63787
3.30%
835
20616
4.10%
2004
15417
534883
2.90%
2260
68283
3.30%
872
20324
4.30%
2005
15018
494712
3.00%
2212
62812
3.50%
934
21775
4.30%

 

 
HH-SC
HH-Est
%HH-SC
Fatal-SC
Fatal-CDC
%Fatal-SC
1991
230
8176
2.80%
6
917
0.70%
1992
226
7378
3.10%
6
790
0.80%
1993
212
6819
3.10%
8
905
0.90%
1994
224
7233
3.10%
7
825
0.80%
1995
234
7366
3.20%
4
906
0.40%
1996
222
6849
3.20%
6
809
0.70%
1997
226
6398
3.50%
9
898
1.00%
1998
299
7601
3.90%
7
825
0.80%
1999
258
5995
4.30%
10
800
1.30%
2000
274
6354
4.30%
8
740
1.10%
2001
260
5041
5.20%
12
792
1.50%
2002
317
5741
5.50%
10
767
1.30%
2003
286
5795
4.90%
9
762
1.20%
2004
299
6109
4.90%
13
800
1.60%
2005
312
6936
4.50%
14
825
1.70%

Juvenile bicyclists, under 16 years

 
T-SC
T-Est
%T-SC
Head-SC
Head-Est
%Head-SC
Hosp-SC
Hosp-Est
%Hosp-SC
1991
9401
399445
2.40%
1290
52093
2.50%
348
12809
2.70%
1992
10485
440546
2.40%
1416
56456
2.50%
333
11603
2.90%
1993
9902
394244
2.50%
1272
48653
2.60%
337
11055
3.00%
1994
9576
386727
2.50%
1284
48495
2.60%
324
10299
3.10%
1995
9122
359838
2.50%
1217
44937
2.70%
337
11177
3.00%
1996
9263
351465
2.60%
1272
45428
2.80%
331
9824
3.40%
1997
10367
367827
2.80%
1467
42853
3.40%
381
9705
3.90%
1998
10917
381601
2.90%
1516
45055
3.40%
511
11164
4.60%
1999
11594
398582
2.90%
1706
49931
3.40%
427
10351
4.10%
2000
12147
394534
3.10%
1736
51937
3.30%
461
9404
4.90%
2001
10371
334361
3.10%
1583
43468
3.60%
440
8425
5.20%
2002
10215
323371
3.20%
1617
41673
3.90%
417
7975
5.20%
2003
10070
322661
3.10%
1467
39448
3.70%
452
8961
5.00%
2004
10002
315634
3.20%
1581
42386
3.70%
462
8130
5.70%
2005
9253
279851
3.30%
1458
37124
3.90%
447
7621
5.90%

 

 
HH-SC
HH-Est
%HH-SC
Fatal-SC
Fatal-CDC
%Fatal-SC
1991
151
5217
2.90%
1
302
0.30%
1992
137
4729
2.90%
2
283
0.70%
1993
121
3742
3.20%
2
321
0.60%
1994
133
4289
3.10%
0
293
0.00%
1995
123
3876
3.20%
2
280
0.70%
1996
139
4114
3.40%
2
237
0.80%
1997
140
2778
5.00%
3
245
1.20%
1998
191
3826
5.00%
1
225
0.40%
1999
171
3194
5.40%
4
194
2.10%
2000
184
3620
5.10%
4
184
2.20%
2001
165
2390
6.90%
3
149
2.00%
2002
188
2241
8.40%
3
144
2.10%
2003
161
2281
7.10%
3
147
2.00%
2004
180
2847
6.30%
4
150
2.70%
2005
150
2271
6.60%
5
150
3.30%

Note that while sample sizes have grown over time in each category, fatalities remain under-represented, and may not be as representative of all bicycle-related fatalities due to the relatively small numbers involved:

All
%T-SC
%Head-SC
%Hosp-SC
%HH-SC
%F-SC
1991 - 1995
2.50%
2.60%
2.90%
3.10%
0.70%
1996 - 2000
2.70%
3.00%
3.40%
3.90%
1.00%
2001 - 2005
2.90%
3.40%
4.20%
5.00%
1.50%
           
Juveniles
%T-SC
%Head-SC
%Hosp-SC
%HH-SC
%F-SC
1991 - 1995
2.50%
2.60%
3.00%
3.10%
0.50%
1996 - 2000
2.90%
3.30%
4.20%
4.80%
1.30%
2001 - 2005
3.20%
3.80%
5.40%
7.10%
2.40%

References

NEISS

National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. US Consumer Product Safety Commission.