‘Too many close calls’: why some US cyclists quit riding bikes on streets

Readers spoke of giving up biking for various reasons - but the main concern for the overwhelming majority was road safety

The number of people who ride their bikes to work in the US has been steadily falling over the past few years, even before the pandemic, according to data collected by nonprofit League of American Bicyclists. In 2014, about 900,000 people rode their bikes to work but in 2020, just over 783,000 did - about 0.5% of all workers.

Meanwhile, the number of bicyclists killed in the US continues to rise, from 723 in 2014, to 938 in 2020.