A New Study Reveals What Sport Is the Most Dangerous in United States

A study done has revealed which sport is the most dangerous in the United States and the results might surprise you.

Bicyclists are among the first to cross the renovated St. Georges Bridge Friday, Oct. 11 after an 18-month, $46.4 million project. / Ben Mace / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There are so many different sports that people in the United States enjoy taking part in. Whether it is recreationally or higher level competition, it is a fun way to remain active and have some fun with your friends.

Unfortunately, there are also some risks to playing sports like anything else in life. Injuries can occur even when the proper precautions are being taken.

Which sport happens to be the most dangerous? Experts at Injured In Florida, a personal injury law firm based out of the state, conducted a study using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to figure it out.

When thinking about dangerous sports most people immediately turn their attention to extreme sports. Bungee jumping, skiing and football are a few that come to mind.

But, based on the data, the No. 1 most dangerous sport, based on total injury numbers per 100,000 people in the general population, is bike riding.

According to their study, 379,504 injuries occur when people are riding their bicycles, which makes up for 12.31 percent of all injuries in the study. What makes it even more shocking is that the category doesn’t include mountain or all-terrain bicycling.

“These injuries are likely due to falls, crashes or road accidents involving motor vehicles,” says Injured In Florida., via the release.

Another extreme sport, skateboarding, did make the list. It came in at No. 9 with 68,892 injuries, making up only 2.23 percent of the recorded ailments. Scooters were not far behind in 10th place with 67,674 and 2.19 percent.

“This data only reflects total injury numbers in each sport and does not take into account participation rates,” says Injured In Florida. “Certain sports might be considered more dangerous if they had both a high number of injuries and high participation rates, as this would mean there were a high number of people participating and getting injured.”

Based on that quote, it is a little easier to understand why bike riding is so high on the list. It is an activity almost everyone has participated in at least once and many people do as a leisure activity throughout their lifetimes.

The only other activities with at least 300,000 recorded injuries were basketball and general exercise-related injuries without equipment. They had 331,183 (10.74 percent) and 315,334 (10.23 percent) respectively.

“Bicycling injuries ranking first highlights the divide between perceived and actual danger in sports. While people instinctively think of extreme sports like bungee jumping or parachuting as the most dangerous sports, the data shows that everyday activities like bicycling can pose a much greater risk of injury. 

“However, participation rates cannot be overlooked. Bicycling is extremely popular and widely accessible, meaning more people are at risk simply because more people participate. Basketball and general exercise injuries, ranking closely behind, also speak to the everyday nature of sports-related injuries, which often stem from routine physical activity rather than extreme or inherently risky sports,” said a spokesperson from Injured In Florida.

Football, soccer, weight lifting, trampolining and baseball were the other five sports listed in the study, ranked 4-8.