SAN FRANCISCO — When Matthew Davis rode his bike to UC-Hastings law school in the 1980s, “there were no other cyclists on the road.” But these days thousands of riders bike to work in San Francisco. “It’s crowded in the morning,” the Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger partner said.
As the number of cyclists grows in San Francisco and statewide, so, too, does the number of accidents — an increase that personal injury lawyers like Davis lament as bad for bikers, but acknowledge has been good for business. According to data compiled by the city, there were 71 percent more bikes on San Francisco roads in 2011 than in 2006. Crash data analyzed in 2008, the last year for which statistics were available, showed more accidents that year than in each of the preceding 10.
