Safety in numbers! Stats on bike v. car crashes in Minneapolis over a 10 year period, I'd be interested if the bike boulevard on Bryant and the bike lane buffer on Portland will help the trouble spots?

Check out the highlights of the report in this article from the Southwest Journal, including a list of the worst intersections and corridors.

This City Pages article published a few graphics from the City of Minneapolis Safety Report: "Understanding Bicyclist-Motorist Crashes in Minneapolis, Minnesota" report, PDF.  The City Pages shows the pretty pictures, but for more information, visit the City of Minneapolis report. 

3 Main Conclusions About Car/ Bike Crashes

1. Most crashes are occurring at intersections along major arterials.
2. Motorists are not seeing or yielding to bicyclists.
3. Bicyclists are not riding in a predictable manner.

>30% of cars "failed to yield right-of-way," resulting in a crash. The next most common fault of drivers is that they were "inattentive or distracted." Bikes "failing to yield right-of-way" and "disregarding a traffic control device" were both named contributing factors in crashes

The 2011 Minneapolis Bicycle Master Plan calls for a 10 percent annual reduction in the number of bicyclist-motorist crashes. To better understand what is causing crashes and to meet reduction goals, 2,973 bicyclist-motorist crash records from 2000-2010 were examined. Specific crash attributes were extracted from Minnesota Department of Public Safety accident reports, analyzed and mapped.

The analysis found that crashes are complex events and there is no one factor that is contributing to crashes. However, three primary conclusions emerge from the data:

• Most crashes are occurring at intersections along major arterials
• Motorists are not seeing or yielding to bicyclists
• Bicyclists are not riding in a predictable manner

There is also a clear correlation between the number of bicyclists and the crash rate. As the number of bicyclists has increased in Minneapolis over the past decade, the crash rate has decreased. This safety in numbers effect is documented in other U.S. cities and in academic research.

Twin Cities Sidewalks has a great comprehensive breakdown of this report, summed up below.

1. Stats will always be inadequate
2. Hit and runs are common
3. Bicyclists suffer all the injuries 
4. There's safety in numbers 
5. The city's antiquated one-way street pairings are very dangerous
6. Franklin Avenue desperately needs traffic calming and bike lanes