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HughPickens.com [hughpickens.com] writes:

NPR reports that more adults across the country are strapping on helmets and hopping on bikes to get to work but between 1998 and 2013, the rate of bicycle-related injuries among all adults increased by 28 percent, from 96 injuries per 100,000 people in 1998-1999, to 123 injuries per 100,000 people in 2012-2013. And while the death rate among child cyclists has plummeted in the past four decades, the mortality rate among cyclists ages 35 to 54 has tripled [npr.org]. "There are just more people riding and getting injured in that age group [jamanetwork.com]. It's definitely striking," says Dr. Benjamin Breyer, Breyer isn't sure what's driving the surge in accidents among Generation Xers and baby boomers, but one reason could be what's known as the Lance Armstrong effect [www.cbc.ca]. "After Lance Armstrong had all of his success at the Tour de France, a lot more people were riding, and there were a lot more older riders that took up the bicycle for sport," says Breyer adding that the problem is that ""if you consider a 65-year-old who falls off their bike exactly the same way a 25-year-old does, the 65-year-old is going to sustain more injuries even if they're in great shape."

The most recent National Household Travel Survey showed that the vast majority of the increase in bicycling between 1995 and 2009 came from Americans older than 25, with the biggest increases coming in the oldest groups [peopleforbikes.org]. That has meant more men in their 50s and 60s on road bikes, riding at high speeds, Breyer says — a recipe for serious injuries. Though a rapidly growing share of older people would like to ride, American cities built during the last 60 years don't make it easy for most people to do so. "I think it's very fair to say that many older bikers don't find themselves in that highly expert category," says Kathryn Lawler. "We have to make the kind of infrastructure for that middle group if we're going to find the benefits." At the end of the day, reducing cycling accidents may boil down to something simple: Making sure that bikers know the rules of the road — and that drivers know how to deal with bikers. "As the population of cyclists in the United States shifts to an older demographic [livescience.com], further investments in infrastructure and promotion of safe riding practices are needed to protect bicyclists from injury," say researchers

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