News & Events: Bicycle Injuries

"When technology enters transportation, people forget that it also becomes public health. It becomes something where human lives are at stake." --- Dr. Catherine Juillard, UCSF trauma surgeon at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) The New York Times, NBC Nightly News and UCSF News Center report on the controvery surrounding the influx of new vehicles such as motor-assisted scooters and mopeds into urban areas, and their impact on safety, notably here in San Francisco. Many in this class are shared or "just-in-time" vehicles that users rent on the spot, some maybe for the first [...]

UCSF News reports on the significant increase of bicycle accidents in riders over age 45 as discussed in a study, published in the Sept. 1st edition of JAMA and co-authored by Rachael Callcut, M.D., M.S.P.H., Assistant Professor of Surgery at the UCSF Department of Surgery at SFGH.  The incidence of bicycle accidents has increased significantly in the U.S. in recent years, with many serious injuries occurring among riders older than 45, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco. The researchers used a national injury surveillance database to study trends in bicycle injuries from [...]

Gina Kolata, health reporter for the NY Times, reports on the controversy surrounding bicycle safety and studies by UCSF trauma surgeons demonstrating that serious accidents may be significantly underreported: Until his bike slid out of control while he was going 35 miles an hour downhill around a sharp turn, Dr. Harold Schwartz thought cycling accidents were something that happened to other people. Now, after recovering from a fractured pelvis, Dr. Schwartz, 65, the vice president for behavioral health at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, has changed his mind. "No one is immune," he said [...]

SFGate, the sister-site of the San Francisco Chronicle, reports on the toll of pedestrian injuires in San Francisco where two to three people are hit by cars every day:  Two to three people are hit by cars every day on San Francisco's dangerously motorized streets, and researchers are beginning to paint a clearer picture of the economic toll. The more than 800 pedestrian crashes a year are racking up a $76 million bill for injuries, reports the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC), and advocates say it's imperative the city invest in preventative measures......... The statistics [...]