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Earlier this year, the League of American Bicyclists quietly launched a new website called Every Bicyclist Counts. The site tracks bicyclist fatalities, and, it does this for several reasons.

First, it serves as a memorial for fallen cyclists. Every bicyclist matters and we want to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives bicycling, while also providing a place for grieving friends and family to pay tribute in the comments, if they wish.

Second, we recognize that we all have a lot to learn about the circumstances of fatal crashes. To improve safety on our roads, we need to better understand what leads to fatal crashes and other bicyclist deaths (they’re not all crashes).

Third, we want to try to improve the response to, coverage of, and follow-up to every one of these fatal crashes. We believe that if we can hold a spotlight to the police, justice system, and media response to these incidents, we may be able to improve the quality of such responses over time.

This month, we sent out an appeal to League members describing Every Bicyclist Counts and asking for support for this important memorial, data-gathering, and awareness-raising tool. We immediately heard from members who were appreciative of the project – and eager to find out more about what we’ve learned so far.

In recognition of the interest in new data on bicycling fatalities, we decided to share some of what we know up to this point. However, please treat these data as highly preliminary. Imagine a big “Draft – Data not final” watermark on the page behind all that follows.

Why Every Bicyclist Counts

Reflecting the city’s long tradition of cycling culture, the city of Gunnison, Colo., attained Silver Bicycle Friendly Community designation last week. Gunnison City Manager, Ken Coleman, shares his community’s enthusiasm…

(A native of Kenya, Winnie is a participant in the Learn to Ride education program at Cycles for Change in Minneapolis.) Winnie (Photo credit: Angela Lundberg) The best experience I…

(Corinne Winter is the executive director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and a member of the League Board of Directors.) Corinne Winter (Credit: Richard Masoner) I started riding a…

(Russ Roca is a bike advocate, traveler and co-founder of Path Less Pedaled) Russ and Lisa I think every cyclist has that moment in their life when they are riding,…

It’s a been a big week in the National Bike Challenge. We crossed the 1,000,000 mile mark last weekend, and several days this week set new records for miles entered…

On Monday, Long Beach attained Silver Bicycle Friendly Community status. In this guest post, Allan Crawford, Bicycle Coordinator for Bike Long Beach, describes his community’s recent bicycle improvements — and…

New data released today by the League of American Bicyclists, Sierra Club, and National Council of La Raza (NCLR) highlights the tremendous economic benefits of bicycling and its importance as…

(Ellen Fletcher volunteered at a Palo Alto Energizer station for Bike to Work Day for nearly four decades, in addition to  serving as a city council member and leading bicycle…

By Lindsay Plante, BFA Communications Intern On Monday, Morgantown added another state to the Bicycle Friendly America map, becoming the first Bicycle Friendly Community in West Virginia. Having applied several…