Drunken Cyclists

Ever since Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was founded in California in 1980, it has been a potent force against driving automobiles while intoxicated. There is now another challenge that MADD may want to address: drunken cyclists. Researchers have linked one out of three fatal or serious bike accidents involving persons aged 15 years or older to alcohol consumption.

Have you or someone you know been cited for being a drunken cyclist? If so, contact one of our experienced drunk driving lawyers in your area today!

Bicycling as a form of recreation and exercise, and to some extent as a means of transportation, has become increasingly popular in the United States in recent years. It has been shown that riding a bike requires a higher level of psychomotor skills than driving a car and that biking performance in controlled lab conditions declines progressively as blood concentrations of alcohol increase.

A recent study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) found that:

• Two hundred eighty-one alcohol-impaired pedal-cyclists were killed in traffic accidents.
• One thousand alcohol-impaired pedal-cyclists received incapacitating injuries in traffic accidents.
• Two Thousand alcohol-impaired pedal-cyclists received non-incapacitating injuries in traffic accidents.
• Seven thousand pedal-cyclists were involved in nonfatal but incapacitating injuries due to alcohol-related accidents.
• Twenty-two thousand pedal-cyclists were involved in nonfatal, Non-incapacitating injuries due to alcohol-related accidents.
• Two percent of persons killed or injured in traffic crashes were pedal-cyclists.
• Seven hundred eighty-four pedal-cyclists killed by drunk drivers.
• Forty-five thousand pedal-cyclists injured by drunk drivers.

The role of alcohol consumption in biking injuries has not been adequately addressed. In response to this, the department of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore decided to conduct an investigation.

Through all of the studies they conducted, they have been quoted as saying, "alcohol use while bicycle riding is associated with a substantially increased risk of fatal or serious injury."

Have you or someone you know been cited for being a drunken cyclist? If so, contact one of our experienced drunk driving attorneys in your area today!