Task force seeking to reduce bicycle injuries, fatalities

Written by Miami Today on July 16, 2025

Citing reports that Florida has the highest rate of bicycle fatalities in the nation, the chairman of the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization has created a five-member Bicycle Fatalities and Injuries Reduction Task Force.

The task force will coordinate with transportation partners and investigate ways to add safer infrastructure with the goal of reducing fatalities and injuries in Miami-Dade, Chairman Anthony Rodriguez said in a memo.

“Statistics reveal that Florida has the highest rate of bicycle fatalities in the nation, with Miami-Dade County leading in the South Florida region,” he wrote.

The number of preventable deaths from bicycle transportation incidents increased by 1% in 2023 and 53% in the 10 years from 902 in 2014 to 1,377 in 2023, the National Safety Council said. The number of preventable nonfatal injuries also increased by 1% in 2023 but declined by 29%, from 480,212 in 2014 to 341,774 in 2023.

Nationally, bicycle-related deaths peak in the warmer months, starting in July, and they remain high through October, the safety council said.

Of the 1,377 bicyclist deaths in 2023, a total of 937 died in motor vehicle crashes and 440 in other ways, according to National Center for Health Statistics mortality data. Males accounted for 89% of all bicycle deaths.

Mr. Rodriguez named Transportation Planning Organization Vice Chairman Eric Diaz-Padron to chair the new task force and organization members Alix Desulme and county commissioners Kionne McGhee, René García and Raquel Regalado as the other task force members.