Is bicycling as safe as being in your car?

[kat_h]

When people ask me if I'm afraid of the cars I admit that I am, but I remind them that recently a truck smashed through the wall of a restaurant next door to where I work and hospitalized the owner who was in the kitchen at the time. I ask them if they still go to restaurants.

[jobob]

It's incredibly ironic to cite an article by Ken Kifer.

Nevertheless, it's an excellent article and I totally agree with what he said.

[mimitabby]

It's incredibly ironic to cite an article by Ken Kifer.

Nevertheless, I totally agree with what he said.

why is it ironic? he seems to have done his homework!

[kat_h]

why is it ironic? he seems to have done his homework!

He was killed by a car while riding his bike.

[mimitabby]

oh, him!! bummer. thanks guys for letting me know.

[jobob]

Yeah, I was shocked by that as well. I had been reading his site for some time before I came across a mention of his death. His friends are maintaining the site in his memory. It's a very valuable resource.

[jobob]

An article came out in today's SF Chronicle stating that bike fatalities are on the rise in the Bay Area:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../MNHPVHGQB.DTL

Riding a bicycle in the Bay Area is an increasingly deadly pastime.

The number of bicyclists killed in collisions with motor vehicles has increased 28 percent over the past decade - from 18 to 23 deaths per year, according to a Chronicle analysis of data collected by the California Highway Patrol.

This is just statistical fear-mongering IMHO. I daresay the number of cyclists in the Bat Area has increased way more than 28% in the past decade, so in reality, deaths as a percentage of the number of cyclists has likely decreased significantly.

The article follows on a more optimistic note:

That increase is despite a 22 percent drop in the number of regional bicycle accidents between 1997 and 2006, the last year for which complete statistics are available for the nine Bay Area counties. The number of bicyclists injured in accidents over that period declined by a similar amount.

Yet, is that played up in the headline ? Noooo....

[breezy]

Most modes of transport are safer than cars....bikes, planes, motorcycles...
We aren't afraid of cars because they are viewed as necessities. For most of us it is almost like being afraid to breathe. Bikes and planes, however, are not necessities to most and therefore are "risky".