Between 2005-2010 there were 819 cycling accidents in Berkeley making it the 4th most dangerous city for cyclists in the Bay Area.
The recent death of world-renown neuropsychologist, Shlomo Bentin, in a cycling accident near the UC Berkeley campus, has brought more attention to the dangers of cycling in downtown and southern Berkeley.
One of the reasons Berkeley may be an epicenter for cycling accidents is that it has one of the highest bike commuter rates in the nation, about 8 percent of residents commute by bike. The city should be proud of the achievement, but at the same time city officials need to recognize that this constituency needs to be supported with safe and readily available infrastructure. Berkeley cyclists have been calling for reform and improvements for many years. The East Bay chapter of the Bicycle Coalition argues that road conditions and lack of safe bike lanes make the areas around the campus some of the most dangerous in the Bay Area for cyclists.
Sources:
http://berkeley.patch.com/articles/berkeley-ranks-high-in-bike-accidents
http://www.baycitizen.org/bikes/story/berkeley-campus-cyclists-collisions/