Note: This article first appeared on Crosstown and is shared with their permission in partnership with Los Angeleno. You can subscribe to Crosstown for crime, traffic and air quality news here.
Because of COVID, now is a safer time to ride your bike.
The number of collisions between bicycles and cars in the City of Los Angeles has plunged during the coronavirus era. A Crosstown analysis revealed that over an 11-week period, these types of accidents fell nearly 71%, dropping to 164 from 561 during the same time period last year.
Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered many businesses to close on March 15 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The number of car trips decreased immediately and so did the number of accidents, with the LAPD recording 16 collisions that week, down from 32 the previous year, according to LAPD data.
The difference has been stark every week since, with the most pronounced being a one-week period in April: There were two collisions in that time frame this year, and 43 in 2019.