Most likely places to be hurt on a bike in SF

If you ride a bicycle through the streets of San Francisco, we commend you. You are brave, and you take your life in your hands daily. If you have a regular commute route, you’ve probably already identified the most dangerous places along your trip. Even if you’re no traffic engineer, it isn’t hard to know where you don’t feel safe as cars go buzzing by you just millimeters away.

If you are thinking of traveling more frequently by bike around the city, it’s worth heeding the insight of a local accident attorney who has taken the time to come up with the places where you are most likely to be injured in a bicycle accident.

The most dangerous spots:

1. Market Street and Octavia
2. Masonic Avenue and Fell Street
3. Market and 5th near Union Square
4. Market and Valencia Street
5. Polk and Geary Streets

If your route takes you through one of these intersections, and there’s a better way to avoid it that won’t take up too much of your time, it might not hurt to go that way. As our mother used to say, “No sense in inviting trouble over for tea!”

While we’re talking cycling, here are some interesting stats about local riding from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Did you know:

City counts show bicycling increases, on average, by 50% after a bike lane is added, including the following increases: Howard St. (300% increase); Valencia St. (144%); Arguello (67%).

San Francisco’s first bicycle traffic signal was installed in 2008 at the notoriously dangerous intersection of Fell and Masonic Streets.

There has been a 58% increase in the number of people bicycling between 2006 and 2010. Counts were taken by the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) at 33 intersections across San Francisco.

Tell us about your cycling adventures/misadventures!

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