While details about the recent tragic death of the 29-year-old bicyclist are limited, some possible contributing factors have surfaced. The driver of the SUV that allegedly struck him was arrested for being under the influence of alcohol. She was heading south on State Street and the bicyclist, who was headed north, for some reason seemed to have veered or turned into her lane. In the face of this tragedy, this article presents data that suggests, in Santa Barbara and nationally, the number of serious bicycle injuries are increasing, the number of cyclists has not increased, even with the post-COVID boom in e-bike use. The city’s bicycling goals and Vision Zero are at best distant goals.
The goal is not to discourage e-bike use — they are a great eco-friendly alternative. However, e-bike riders are at greater risk because they can ride farther and faster than on non-electric bikes. We suggest that existing approaches — advocacy for bicycling and bike infrastructure — may no longer be a viable solution to these developments, especially under the Trump administration. An alternative, though obviously extremely challenging, is acknowledging and addressing our addictions to alcohol … and cars.
Injuries: After stabilizing for several years, bicyclist injuries in the city began to increase in 2021. The number of severe injuries reached the highest on record in 2024 — 28. No single factor accounts for this increase. In just over 50 percent of the recent collisions, the cyclist was determined to be at fault, with the most common violations being unsafe speed, improper turning, wrong side of the road, and failing to obey traffic signals and signs. When automobiles were at fault, the most common violations were improper turning and failing to yield to the bicyclist.
When the type of bicycle was recorded in the police report, more than half of the victims were riding e-bikes. Apart from the recent death, alcohol has been involved in less than 10 percent of the incidents.
A recent national study in JAMA and another by the American College of Surgeons support our analysis: E-bike injuries are skyrocketing. This increase is likely due in part to the growing number of E-bike users, but it does not diminish the problem. However, some reassurance can be found in a report by the League of American Bicyclists, which concluded that the risk of bicycle fatalities, although increasing, remained low: less than 1 per million miles bicycled.
Ridership: There is only one nationally validated indicator of bicycle ridership, the American Community Survey, which measures the primary method of commuting to work. According to the American Community Survey, bicycle commuting in the city peaked at 6.0 percent in 2014, long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Commuting fell steadily until 2021 (2.9%), then began to slowly, reaching 3.2 percent in 2023. A similar trend is seen in Santa Barbara County and California as a whole.
Even when “bicycle traffic” (all bicycles crossing automated counters) is considered, there has been little change in the United States. Eco-counter (the largest maker of automated bicycle counters) collects counts from hundreds of locations across the United States. Compared to the year before COVID (2019), the counts are effectively the same, suggesting that any decrease in the number of people who bike to work was approximately equaled by an increase in recreational cycling.
Please consider going car-free, at least once for few days. Read about how it can be done in Santa Barbara here. Not surprisingly, the Europeans lead the way as described in the International Transport Forum and SusTrans.
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