Is bicycling as safe as being in your car?

[mimitabby]

I found a great website http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/health/risks.htm

called "Is cycling dangerous?"

The guy goes through all the statistics available on causes of death and injury and it sure looks to me that Bicycling is safer than staying in your car.

Read for yourself.

And further, bicycling is also safer than staying home and not taking care of your body.

Enjoy the website, he's done a lot of good research.

[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!

[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".

[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....

[rij73]

I believe Ken Kifer was hit from behind by a drunk driver in broad daylight. That's the rarest kind of incident there is, but it does happen...

[Bad JuJu]

This is just statistical fear-mongering IMHO.

Yes, fearmongering of the worst kind. A similar kind of thing is often done with regard to motorcycles--reporting the increased accidents and fatalities without bothering to mention the increase in numbers of riders and bikes on the road. Other than trying to frighten people into giving up their motorcycles, I'm not sure what the goal is. It's not as if there are going to be motorcycle paths built. Well, I hope not........

[OakLeaf]

Ya, you notice how auto accident rates are always expressed in terms of vehicle-miles, not so here.

[kat_h]

Have a look at http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

It's part of an awareness campaign in the UK.

[OakLeaf]

A similar kind of thing is often done with regard to motorcycles--reporting the increased accidents and fatalities without bothering to mention the increase in numbers of riders and bikes on the road.

Unfortunately not the case - rather it's the anti-helmet crowd who try to obscure the issues by claiming that rider-miles weren't taken into account, when in fact they were, and the disparity is almost entirely accountable by helmet law repeal.

/hijack off

[KnottedYet]

My doc just tried to convince me that bicycling is a bad choice of exercise, because it's too dangerous... I was resistant.