BICYCLING DEATHS

The deaths of 17 bicyclists on Orange County city streets and roads last year was the second highest annual total during the last five years and an increase of six from the year before. The cities of Anaheim, Huntington Beach and Irvine had the most fatalities, with three each. Several cities had no bike deaths on their streets. Cypress, Fountain Valley, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Orange, San Juan Capistrano and Seal Beach have recorded no such deaths during any of the last five years.

Orange County’s 17 biker deaths ranked it second among it and the four contiguous counties. Los Angeles County led with 33, followed by Orange County with about half as many and then San Diego. Orange County’s total was 22% of all the bike deaths in the five-county region and 13% of those statewide.

Here’s the trend inside the county during the last five years, followed by a 1988 comparison of Orange to the four contiguous counties:

City 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 Anaheim 3 1 2 1 2 Brea 1 0 0 0 0 Buena Park 0 0 0 1 0 Costa Mesa 2 0 1 0 0 Cypress 0 0 0 0 0 Fountain Valley 0 0 0 0 0 Fullerton 0 0 1 1 0 Garden Grove 1 1 1 1 1 Huntington Beach 3 2 1 1 2 Irvine 3 1 1 1 1 Laguna Beach 0 1 0 0 0 La Habra 0 0 1 0 0 La Palma 0 0 0 0 0 Los Alamitos 0 0 0 0 0 Newport Beach 0 0 2 2 0 Orange 0 0 0 0 0 Placentia 0 0 1 0 1 San Clemente 0 0 1 0 0 San Juan Capistrano 0 0 0 0 0 Santa Ana 0 3 5 2 1 Seal Beach 0 0 0 0 0 Stanton 0 0 0 1 0 Tustin 0 0 0 0 1 Villa Park 0 0 1 0 0 Westminster 2 0 0 0 0 Yorba Linda 1 0 0 1 0 State Highways 0 0 0 1 0 County Roads 1 2 1 1 2 TOTAL 17 11 19 14 11

1988 FIVE-COUNTY COMPARISON

Total % of Five-County % of State City Fatalities Total Total Los Angeles 33 43 26 Orange 17 22 13 Riverside 3 4 2 San Bernardino 8 10 6 San Diego 16 21 13 FIVE-COUNTY TOTAL 77 100 60 STATE TOTAL 127 -- --

Source: California Highway Patrol