Riding A Bike In Chicago Less Dangerous Than In The Suburbs

By aaroncynic in News on Jul 10, 2012 9:20PM



Flint Foto Factory

While cycling Chicago streets can be a pretty dangerous activity, data shows that riding a bike through the city is often less dangerous than in the suburbs and other areas. According to data found by Steve Vance of Grid Chicago, for every 1,000 people who commute to work by bicycle in Chicago in 2010, about 109 were involved in a crash. For the suburbs, other parts of Cook County and collar counties, the data breaks down like this:

Cook County, including Chicago: 116.12

Cook County, excluding Chicago: 132.73

Collar counties: 126.38

For every 1,000 people counted, the number of people involved in a crash in 2010 who either died or received an incapacitating injury breaks down like this:

Chicago: 10.68 people

Cook County, including Chicago: 11.92

Cook County, excluding Chicago: 15.27

Collar counties: 21.10

The information was collected by the American Community Survey, a smaller portion of the U.S. Census, which collects data from a smaller portion of the population every five years. Vance reports that the data suggests the lower likelihood of being involved in a crash in the city correlates to a lower number of vehicles per household as well as a higher capacity of bicycle commuting.

