By Heath Urie Camera Staff Writer
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By far, the most common danger to cyclists in Boulder is drivers making turns within intersections. Turning vehicles were the cause of 40 percent of all bike-vehicle crashes during the study period. In about 10 percent of the cases, a driver was making a right turn on a red light.
"That is a big deal," Estes said. "There’s definitely times when people are looking to the left and start pulling out and I have the right-of-way."
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The Safe Streets report shows that drivers were far more likely to be found at fault in accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists.
Among accidents involving bikes, the driver of the vehicle was cited 41 percent of the time, while the cyclist was only cited about 24 percent of the time. Neither party was ticketed in 31 percent of the cases, and both the driver and the rider were at fault only 4 percent of the time.
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The study also found that pedestrians darted out into traffic far more often than cyclists. People who dashed out in front of vehicles accounted for about 14 percent of collisions involving a pedestrian, but cyclists who illegally rode through a traffic signal accounted for only 2.3 percent of bike-related accidents.
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He said the most frequent cause of traffic accidents in Boulder "by a long shot" is drivers who follow too close and rear-end other vehicles.
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City baffled by summer drop
The study also poses something of a mystery for city officials.
The report revealed — not surprisingly — that as the weather warms up, more people in Boulder take to riding their bike. But the study also found that the number of accidents involving bikes goes down in May, June and July.
Cowern, the traffic engineer, wasn’t certain why that is, but the smaller population of students over the summer could be part of the reason.
He also speculated that as the number of people on bikes reaches a certain point, drivers become so aware of them that behaviors change and accidents decrease. That’s a tantalizing theory for a city that prides itself on getting people out of their cars.
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https://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_19895363oldId.20120207192237353
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