Bicyclists riding on streets, roads and highways are much safer in Minnesota than in most places in America. Further, the number of crashes in Minnesota in 2009 involving a bicycle and a motor vehicle declined by 2.4 percent from 2008.

Yet each year there are about 1,000 such crashes in Minnesota, with almost as many bicyclists injured. In 2008, there were 13 deaths, and 10 more in 2009, as a result of these collisions.

Nationally, a total of 714 bicyclists were killed in crashes with motor vehicles in 2008. Bicyclist deaths were down 29 percent since 1975 but were up 14 percent since 2003.

Deaths among bicyclists younger than 16 have declined 86 percent since 1975, while deaths among bicyclists 16 and older increased 91 percent. Deaths of bicyclists younger than 16 were 13 percent of all bicyclist deaths in 2008.

• Ninety-one percent of bicyclists killed in 2008 reportedly weren't wearing helmets.

Nearly 40 percent of crashes occur when the bicyclist and motorist are at an intersection. Three-quarters of these crashes occur when either the bicyclist or the motorist fails to yield the right-of-way at an intersection.

• The most severe crashes—those resulting in the death of the bicyclist—occur when the bicyclist and motorist are traveling in the same direction, however. Perhaps this is because the motorist is moving at a higher rate of speed than at an intersection. In about half of such crashes, the motorist overtakes the bicyclist from behind. In the other half, the bicyclist takes a right or a left turn into the path of the motorist.

Safety measures for the prevention of these and other common crash scenarios are presented in the Rules of the Road section,

Three major studies assign the fault in bicycle-motor vehicle crashes to the bicyclist and/or motorist, but with vastly different results. One study found that motorists are at fault in 60 percent of such crashes and bicyclists in only 17 percent. Another study, focusing on crashes involving children, finds that 80 percent of such crashes are the fault of the bicyclist.

In the face of such varied results, it is apparent that bicyclists and motorists alike share the responsibility for bicycle safety.

Click here for more information about bicycle crash scenarios nationwide.

Click here for more bicycle crash data for Minnesota.