A hit and run bicycle accident in Las Vegas this week has accident lawyers as well as bicycle safety groups extremely concerned about the increasing number of such crashes on our streets. The cyclist was killed by a hit and run motorist near Alta and Foothills. The car was apparently a black BMW, and the victim’s family and friends are desperately asking for help from the public to locate the driver in this accident.

Las Vegas police meanwhile are releasing some scary statistics involving bicycle collisions for 2009.  Last year, there were a total of 365 accidents involving motorists and bicyclists.  Five of those crashes were fatal.  Bicycle safety experts like Erin Breen at the Community Safe Partnership Program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas believe that much of the problem stems from motorist negligence.  In Las Vegas, we haven’t bothered to invest in bicycle safety and awareness, and the results are plain to see.  On any given day, you can see motorists treating the bike lane as a turning lane, or failing to yield to bicyclists.

As Las Vegas injury lawyers, we are concerned about the hostility that seems to greet the city’s bicyclists.  While no one can deny that there are bicyclists out there who may lack the training and education needed to ride safely, the fact is that most bicyclists obey traffic rules and respect the rights of all users of the road. Unfortunately, they are often shouted at, or have displays of aggressive driving to deal with.

A random conversation with any avid bicyclist in Las Vegas will tell you how widespread the problem is.  He will tell you of the taunts he suffers, and being run off the road.  There’s little protection a bicyclist has in a hostile situation, and often he may find that his accident doesn’t even warrant an investigation by the Las Vegas police.