Another old guy killed riding a bike

Former senator Mike Enzi dies after bike accident

Former senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), the onetime chairman of two Senate panels crucial to domestic policy, died Monday after suffering serious injuries in a bicycle accident. He was 77....

Rob's comment:

According to a 2015 Chronicle story about a UC study, Enzi's death is part of a trend: Study: Injury rates for older cyclists skyrocket over past 15 years.

Other fatal cycling "collisions" in San Diego.

A Chronicle columnist stopped riding his bike in San Francisco because he realized that sooner or later he was "going down."

This phenomenon prompted me to create a new topic label: Old Farts on Bikes.

The Centers for Disease Control on cycling:

Bicycle trips account for only 1% of all trips in the United States. However, bicyclists face a higher risk of crash related injury and death than occupants in motor vehicles....In 2015 in the United States, over 1,000 bicyclists died and there were almost 467,000 bicycle-related injuries.

The CDC on the old fart issue:

Adults aged 50 to 59 years have the highest bicycle death rates and Males die 6 times more often and are injured 4 times more often on bicycles than females.

Even more disturbing is the danger children face while cycling:

Children (5-14 years) and adolescents (15-19 years) have the highest rates of nonfatal bicycle-related injuries, accounting for more than one-third of all bicycle-related injuries seen in U.S. emergency departments.

Here in Progressive Land, City Hall has long encouraged parents to get their children on bikes.

See also Bikes and "the illusion of safety" and Vision Zero hits the wall.