The Most Dangerous Intersection for Cyclists in Roseville

Bicyclists beware: Baseline Road at Brady Lane is the most dangerous intersection for bicyclists in Roseville.

That’s according to 2009 data from the state's Office of Traffic Safety, the latest available.

Patch analyzed the figures on recent car crashes locally and found that at Baseline Road and Brady Lane, two bicycle-on-car accidents occurred in 2009 – more than any other intersection in Roseville, according to the data. However, that number is , which had the most auto-on-bicycle crashes within all of neighboring Sacramento County.

The conducted its own research on bicycle collisions for a six-month period from August 2006 to February 2007 and found 19 collisions involved bicycles, as reported in the city’s Bicycle Master Plan. Sixteen of those collisions resulted in some type of injury and did not result in death. The city’s research found that about 74 percent of the time the cyclist was found to be at fault in the accident.

One of the missions of the city’s Bicycle Master Plan, which was last updated in 2008, is to promote the use of bicycling as transportation within the city and cycling safety.

Michael Dour, alternative transportation analyst with the City of Roseville, said bicycle safety outreach is done throughout the year through varying avenues. In October, some Roseville schools participate in International Walk/Bike to School Day, but bicycle riding at the student level is encouraged year-long through incentive programs, Dour said.

“We work with the schools to encourage walking and biking to school,” he said.

It’s also about safety. In September, Roseville hosts a Bikefest, where riders can take advantage of bike safety inspections, helmet fittings and riding demonstrations.

Roseville is also home a bicycle advocacy group, Biking Roseville. The Yahoo group encourages people to use bikes as an alternative form of transportation. Members are teaming up with Smart Cycling for a bike maintenance course in September, which will include in-class lecture followed by on-street cycling instruction.

Safety is also one of the group’s top priorities, like other advocacy groups.

According to Ryan Sharpe, vice president of Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates, the Sacramento region falls behind cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco in regards to bike safety.

“The farther you get out from the Sacramento core, the worse it gets because of the way planning has been done for the last 50 years,” Sharpe said. “For traffic planners and city planners that got their starts in the 80s and before, it’s very hard to break out of [the car-centric] mindset.”

Click here to see an interactive map with the Roseville intersections that had the most accidents in 2009.