Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recorded 53 severe pedal cycle cases over the past decade, with fractures accounting for 54% of incidents. You may have a viable workers' comp claim if your injury resulted from hazardous work surfaces or lack of proper equipment maintenance. If you were injured while operating a bicycle for work, an attorney can help you verify your benefits and ensure your claim is handled fairly.
How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 53 severe cases involving pedal cycles between 2015 and 2025. Fractures are the most common nature of injury, representing 54% of all reported incidents and often requiring extensive medical intervention.
These incidents frequently result in severe trauma to the pelvic region. Because these injuries often involve high-impact collisions with terrain or obstacles, your recovery process can be long and physically demanding.
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Free Benefits ReviewCommon injuries
Pedal cycle injuries at work typically occur when you navigate uneven terrain, parking lots, or designated trails while performing job duties. The primary source of these injuries is the bicycle itself, which can become unstable on slick surfaces like ice or sand. Collisions with stationary objects such as trees or garage doors are common mechanisms that lead to severe fractures and internal organ damage.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fractures | 27 |
| 2 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 6 |
| 3 | Severe wounds or internal injuries and other injuries | 5 |
| 4 | Intracranial Injuries | 4 |
| 5 | Cuts, lacerations, punctures without injury to internal structures | 3 |
| 6 | Injuries to internal organs and major blood vessels | 2 |
| 7 | Multiple severe wounds and internal injuries | 1 |
| 8 | Multiple surface and flesh wounds | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 21% of all reported pedal cycle incidents, often due to the use of maintenance bikes within large facilities. Transportation and warehousing environments also present risks, as you frequently navigate busy parking lots and loading areas where visibility and surface conditions can change rapidly.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents include collisions with fixed objects like trees or doors and loss of control on unstable surfaces like ice or sand. These reports show that even routine tasks like bike patrols or site inspections can lead to serious internal injuries or multiple fractures. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | MT | Accommodation & Food Services | "An employee was coaching a bike lesson. Their handlebar clipped a tree, rotated, and struck their left side. This caused the employee to fall, and they were hospitalized with a ruptured spleen." | |
| 2025 | CO | Accommodation & Food Services | "An employee was conducting a bike patrol, traveling down a bike trail on a mountain bike. The bike became unstable on a sandy patch and the employee struck the cross bar, resulting in an abdominal laceration. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | ID | Arts & Entertainment | "An employee was riding a mountain bike to check on markings and race trails when he struck a tree. He sustained six fractured ribs and a laceration to the spleen." | |
| 2025 | OH | Transportation & Warehousing | "On January 10, 2025, an employee's bicycle slipped on a patch of ice in a parking lot. The employee suffered a hip injury and was hospitalized." | |
| 2024 | PA | Manufacturing | "An employee was driving a three-wheeled maintenance bike through a garage door. The door struck him in the head and face area, and he fell to the ground. He suffered head, neck, and spinal injuries." | |
| 2023 | DC | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was making a delivery via bicycle when the basket rod came loose. The employee fell off the bicycle and sustained rib fractures, a wrist injury, and a concussion." | |
| 2023 | DC | Public Administration | "An employee was riding a bike off-site in preparation for an upcoming physical fitness test. The employee encountered a slick spot during the ride and fell off the bike, suffering fractures to the pelvis and right hip socket." | |
| 2023 | LA | Information | "An employee was riding an electric bicycle to get from one production site to another when they tripped and fell, resulting in head trauma." | |
| 2023 | FL | Accommodation & Food Services | "An employee was making a pizza delivery on an E-bike when the front tire fell off the bike, causing the employee to fall to the concrete ground and sustain a facial fracture." | |
| 2023 | TX | Professional Services | "An employee was riding his bicycle next to a hot condensate pit. He fell into it, suffered first- and second-degree burns, and was hospitalized." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.
