Bicycle crashes in California
Across 2023 and 2024, 18,749 reported crashes in California were recorded as involving a bicycle — about 2.3 per cent of all reported crashes. The count rose by 1,127 between the two years. One year of movement is not a trend, and this data cannot say whether more crashes means more riding or more risk.
| Year | Bicycle-involved crashes | All reported crashes |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 8,811 | 409,824 |
| 2024 | 9,938 | 417,147 |
By county
The twenty counties recording the most, both years combined. Counts, not rates — and with cycling in particular, a high count can simply mean a lot of people ride there.
| # | County | Bicycle-involved crashes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | 4,099 |
| 2 | Orange | 2,242 |
| 3 | San Diego | 1,428 |
| 4 | Sacramento | 1,126 |
| 5 | Santa Clara | 954 |
| 6 | Alameda | 928 |
| 7 | Riverside | 852 |
| 8 | San Bernardino | 719 |
| 9 | San Francisco | 700 |
| 10 | Santa Barbara | 504 |
| 11 | Ventura | 457 |
| 12 | Contra Costa | 443 |
| 13 | San Joaquin | 429 |
| 14 | San Mateo | 380 |
| 15 | Fresno | 365 |
| 16 | Stanislaus | 337 |
| 17 | Kern | 300 |
| 18 | Santa Cruz | 247 |
| 19 | Marin | 208 |
| 20 | Solano | 203 |
Every county is in the county table and in the CSV download.
What this count misses
More than most. A crash that involved no motor vehicle, or where the rider picked the bike up and carried on, often never becomes a report. The figures here are a floor, not a measurement, and the gap between them and what actually happens on the road is unknown rather than small.
The law — the bicycle provisions of the Vehicle Code, passing distance, and how comparative fault works for riders — is on the bicycle accidents pages.
Sources: California Crash Reporting System (CCRS), California Highway Patrol. Definitions and limitations: methodology.
Common questions
- What counts as a bicycle crash here?
- A crash where the CHP report records the motor vehicle as having been involved with a bicycle. It counts crashes, not riders, and it counts only crashes that were reported.
- Are electric bikes included?
- Not in this figure. The crash-level field records "bicycle", while the party records carry a separate electric-bicycle vehicle type. This page uses the crash-level field, so it follows how the officer classified the collision rather than how the machine was catalogued.
- Are bicycle crashes under-reported?
- Almost certainly, and by more than crashes generally. A collision with no motor vehicle involved, or one where the rider gets up and rides away, frequently never reaches a police report at all. Read these counts as a floor.
- Does a high county count mean cycling there is dangerous?
- It does not follow. These are counts, not rates, and they are not adjusted for how many people ride. A county with a lot of cycling can record more crashes and still be safer per mile ridden than one where almost nobody rides.