From the Touring Listserve:

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Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 08:39:42 -0700
From: "Siebert, Joseph" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Sobering news
The 1998 Annual Report of the King County Medical Examiner's ("coroner")
Office has just been made public. King County is a large county in
Washington state, USA, and includes Seattle and other nearby cities.  The
report has some statistics that I think will interest bicyclists.
In 1998, six (6) bicyclists died in King County;  all were classified as
"traffic" fatalities (rather than "accidental"), meaning a motor vehicle was
involved in some (unspecified) way;  the six deaths amount to 0.4% of all
traffic fatalities in the county for that year.  The breakdown of the group
is:  1 female, 5 male;  5 white, 1 black (male);  ages 13-15 years (2
males);  30-39 years (2 males);  40-49 years (1  female, 1 male).  Alcohol
was present in the blood of one bicyclist.
Of particular interest was the observation that 5 were not wearing bicycle
helmets;  the 6th was "undetermined," which I take to mean a helmet was
found at the scene, but was not being worn by the victim.
By comparison, of the 1507 total cases, 25 died of drowning, 2 in
parachuting accidents, 1 from scuba diving, and 1 in a "jet ski vs. jet ski"
encounter.
Interesting, and of course unfortunate, information.
Joe Siebert

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