How safe is biking with all that traffic?

Don Shipp

http://www.pacts.org.uk/policy/brie...atistics_uk.htm

__________________
"Boudreaux pissed me off, what should I do?"
"Nothing, just shut up and take his advice."

Crusader370

That statistic doesn't take into consideration how many people use the bicycle versus how many people use the car. In fact, 1747 (the number of car deaths) divided by 130 (the number of bicycle deaths) gives you 13.4. Do you think that there are more than 13 cars for every one bike on the road? Definitely. Hence, biking is more dangerous.

Crusader370

not to mention the fact that in a car, you have more than one person per vehicle, which makes biking less safe than driving if there are more than 13 people in cars for each cyclist. If you assume that on average, there are 2 people per car, that translates to more than 6 cars.

Don Shipp

Cross modal comparison of fatality risk for passengers

2001

passenger kilometres

Motor cycle/moped


Foot


Pedal cycle


Car


Van


Rail


Water


Bus or coach


Air




Per person per mile (or per person per billion kms as given here) cycling is less dangerous than walking. It isn't obvious or intuitive, but it is the case.

__________________
"Boudreaux pissed me off, what should I do?"
"Nothing, just shut up and take his advice."

Don Shipp

Two people per car? How very sensible and sociable. The average here is about 1.2 people per car.

Cycling can be a lot safer than these figures suggest. You can cut your risk of being killed by 50% by not trying to ride up the inside of lorries as they are turning, for instance.
Driving seems safer per mile (or km) because motorists can clock up huge distance on motorways, which are roads with all the hazards removed.
Taking all factors into account, cyclists can expect to out-live motorists by about 10 years.

__________________
"Boudreaux pissed me off, what should I do?"
"Nothing, just shut up and take his advice."

LaTomate

It is important to note, as well, that statistics for the UK do not apply to Montreal.

Additionally, it is possible that more of those car deaths were experienced on highways/carriageways whereas there were more bike deaths on main arterial but non-highway roads.

Lastly, statistics can not really be extrapolated on an individual basis.



I don't think it's easy to say whether it's safer to drive or to walk or to cycle, and I happen to think it's kind of useless attempting it because if you're not informing yourself on how to make yourself safe whilst doing any of them, you will be unsafe no matter what the overall statistics say.

Wear bright clothing, lights at night and at dusk, if your gut tells you that the drivers are being too agressive get off your bike and walk it on the sidewalk for a few blocks before you start riding again. Don't be a pushover (literally) and stay a safe distance from the parked cars which requires taking to (at least the rightmost part of) the lane. You will be fine, as long as you respect the fact that the machines around you are deadly if not handled in the right way. Just think of this time as the horror story part of shop class: the time when the teacher gets you sufficiently scared of the band-saw so that you don't try anything stupid.

Don Shipp

It is not possible to do a direct comparison for many reasons, but these figures do indicate that cycling just isn't as dangerous as is commonly thought, at least in Britain, and I'd imagine that Canada would be similar.

If you obey the law, ride carefully and apply common sense you'll have fewer accidents than someone who doesn't. Knowing how to behave on the road when driving also helps here.
And don't attempt to pass lorries (trucks) when they're turning.

__________________
"Boudreaux pissed me off, what should I do?"
"Nothing, just shut up and take his advice."

Raleighroader

I don't know if the proper measurement is fatalities per mile or fatalities per hour of exposure. This is a common debate when comparing auto fatalities to airline fatalities to cycling fatalities. Per-hour favors cyclists more than per-mile does.

Even if it is measured per mile, when I read about killed cyclists in my area, at least two-thirds of the time the cyclist was doing something that I wouldn't do, such as riding at night without lights, riding on a very busy street, etc.

Many cyclists who have 50,000 miles under their belts, and are still alive to tell about it.

Personally, I think cycling is more dangerous than driving because of your lack of protection as a rider. However, getting fat and out of shape is also dangerous.

mikesbytes

In New South Wales (NSW), Australia, for every 3 people killed in cars, there is an additional pedrestrian killed.

__________________
Training Log

thepeddler

Interesting, as I was driving to work this morning I noticed a couple of guys on bike. They had nice road bikes. They where wearing all the nice expensive clothing and they looked like seasoned riders.

The only problem was that all the colours, bikes and outfits, where dark and blended into the road. The light at that time of the morning wasn't that great and combined with the dull colours made them difficult to see. Also they had no lights of any kind to make them stand out.

I don't no if it is considered "uncool" by some people to have bright colours or flashing lights on bikes but to me it makes sense to protect your ass (literally).

Don Shipp

Yellow stands out best in most light conditions. Yellow is not uncool, it's the colour of winning!

__________________
"Boudreaux pissed me off, what should I do?"
"Nothing, just shut up and take his advice."

BornInZion

You can make cycling in traffic safer with your behavior:

http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=252

__________________
Some people say the world is round, and others say the world is flat. But I say it is mostly uphill!

eagles724

I think the key thing is to make yourself be seen while on the road. Bright colors, riding in a visible and consistant manner, wearing reflectors, using light generating devices (I even have a LED that is for daylight and night time riding). I once saw a startling stat about how being "unseen by a motorist" is by far the #1 cause of a collision.

I commute in the Philadelphia suburbs at 6am on the way in. I notice the same people passing me at certain points so my hope is that they expect to see me as well. Overall, the drivers are pretty respectful..(knock on wood).

xxamr_corpxx

Don Shipp : Are those statistics inclusive of children as well?

__________________
2004 Trek 1000
2005 Giant Elwood
ACE Folding Bicycle