Perspective on Cycling Safety

[OakLeaf]

I read recently that after many years of slow but steady decline in deaths of motorcycle riders in bike/vs/car accidents, these past two years have shown a sudden alarming leap in deaths for motorcycle riders. The only guess they have so far is the sudden proliferation of car drivers talking on cell phones...

There's no comparison between bicycle accidents and motorcycles, except in one aspect: Most if not all of the jump in motorcyclist deaths has to do with repeal of helmet laws in several states.

I have no interest in discussing helmet laws. Zero. Don't start. Suffice it to say that I am alive right now because of a bicycle helmet I was wearing at 21 mph twenty years ago.

If the statistic is true that someone posted that more bicyclists are wearing helmets, that's a great thing. But the opposite trend is true of motorcyclists, and *that* is what accounts for the increase in deaths. Unlike a bicycle, a motorcycle has big rear view mirrors and much more power than a car - it also has more maneuverability than a car. Unlike a bicycle, a motorcyclist *always* has the last clear chance to avoid a crash with a car, no matter whose legal fault the initial problem might have been.

Incidentally, most present-day motorcycle fatalities are also single-bike accidents.

There's no excuse for not paying attention *whatever* your mode of transportation. Recently a pedestrian was killed in my area, running at night with her back to traffic and an iPod jammed in her ear. I cringe every time I see a bicyclist with earbuds in. But motorcycle wrecks have no place in a discussion of bicycle wrecks.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

There's no excuse for not paying attention *whatever* your mode of transportation. Recently a pedestrian was killed in my area, running at night with her back to traffic and an iPod jammed in her ear. I cringe every time I see a bicyclist with earbuds in. But motorcycle wrecks have no place in a discussion of bicycle wrecks.

Well, if we are talking about car accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents.....why the heck aren't we "allowed" to talk about motorcycle accidents as well?? They are all related in various convoluted ways, though they may have varied causes. Discussions here are open to many ideas.
I imagine more motorcyclists are now wearing iPod buds too, just like joggers and bicyclists do. More car drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, (and maybe motorcyclists too?) are talking on cell phones as they move in traffic. In fact, Manhattan was going to make it against the law for pedestrians to walk across the street while talking on a cell phone. (have they actually passed that law yet?) That would be interesting, as every 8th person walking down the street in manhattan seems to be talking on their cell phone these days. I see teenagers talking on cell phones while weaving through traffic one-handed on their bicycles all the time....with no helmets either.

[Grog]

I also don't see why all of a sudden there would be a policing of acceptable and non-acceptable topics to discuss. One can find another posters' words offensive (which doesn't seem to be the case here), but saying that entire topics should not be discussed?

Besides, cyclists and motorcyclists have in common that they're a lot less visible than cars on the roadway.

[mimitabby]

Besides, cyclists and motorcyclists have in common that they're a lot less visible than cars on the roadway.

and they are both exposed completely and go down the road on two (usually) wheels.

[tygab]

Here is an interesting link to consider:

http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds_dying.jpg

<ramblings>
I am interested in risk analysis (I am in network security so I think about this topic a lot), and recently have been reading a great deal on how humans are poorly equipped to assess risk. We greatly exaggerate the unusual or unknown types of risks in our minds, while underestimating the risks with events that are far more likely to happen, for example death by heart failure, cancer, or as a passenger/driver in a car. Given the scale of those risks, I will hedge that as a cyclist who is exercising and eating well, I am doing more to combat or defer the outcome of the first two or three categories than risking my life! And we all should be pressuring auto manufacturers or our local gov for safer cars and transit ways, as car drivers, passengers, pedestrians AND cyclists [if you are never a car driver or passenger, more power to you but most of us mix and match in these categories].

I think the cycling deaths strike so close to home for us because most of us fear the end - we fear we will not have gotten to do or be everything we wanted, we fear how it will happen. I know at times I do. And we relate to the cyclist killed. So we imagine, this could be me! every time there is a new report on the board of a serious cyclist killed, and come to the conclusion cycling is very risky.

A little girl in our area (12 years old) was killed just days ago on her bicycle by a utility company truck. If I were to publish that here as another vehicle versus bicycling accident, would we relate to it the same way? I don't think so. Some here might relate to it more adversely, thinking perhaps of their own kids, while others might not react as much since the image of a child riding her bicycle down a residential street doesn't so much map with our images of ourselves as adult cyclists out on a ride.

The only way, I think, to combat my fear of a life interrupted prematurely by any kind of death is by living it fully if not daily, then over the weeks, months, and years that I have. Cycling is definitely fulfilling, and I'm not going to give that up.

Plus, I still do strongly believe the more cyclists there are, the more drivers will learn to coexist with us.

So, basically +1 to many of the sentiments already here!

[mimitabby]

Unlike a bicycle, a motorcyclist *always* has the last clear chance to avoid a crash with a car, no matter whose legal fault the initial problem might have been.
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sorry, i don't understand what you are saying here???