How often do "non" cyclists come out with this old chestnut...here's a response
[quote]
That's a common misconception, and is actually complete rubbish. Figures show that here in the UK regular cyclists live an average of 2 years longer than the rest of the population, and have a health and fitness of someone 10 years younger than them. Another study found that the benefits far outweigh the risks, by 20:1.
Cycling is a very safe activity, in fact safer per mile than walking on the pavement.
Most drivers are pretty decent, giving plenty of space and care to cyclists, especially in London where there is a critical mass of cyclists now. Having so many more cyclists has been great for everybody - more cyclists means motorists get better at dealing with us, and it makes cycling much safer still.
Cycling is too dangerous!
5 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Cycling is too dangerous!
by mrP(Boonen)VT » Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:06 pm
[quote]Fifteen Key Facts About Road Safety
1. A half of all road deaths are to car occupants (Road Accidents Great Britain 2001: The Casualty Report)
2. Pedestrians make up just under a quarter of all road deaths (RAGB: 2001)
3. 35% of all pedestrians killed or seriously injured are children under 16 years (RAGB: 2001).
4. Road deaths account for 74% of accidental deaths for young people, aged 15-19 years (RAGB: 2001).
5. Your chances of being killed on a motorcycle are 42 times higher (per billion passenger km) than that as a car passenger and 307 times higher than that as a rail passenger (DfT unpublished 2001, or RSSB Annual Safety Performance Report 2002/03)
6. Over 70% of road crashes happen on built-up (urban) roads, but over a half of road deaths happen on non-built-up (rural) roads (RAGB: 2001).
7. 42% of deaths happen in darkness (RAGB: 2001).
8. In 1998, drivers aged 17-21 years made up 7% of all licence holders, but were involved in 15% of injury crashes (Tomorrow’s Roads: Safer for Everyone, 2000).
9. Mile-for-mile, company car drivers have crash rates 30-50% higher than for comparable private drivers (Tomorrow’s Roads: Safer for Everyone, 2000).
10. Excess or inappropriate speed is a main or contributory factor in one third of all collisions (Tomorrow’s Roads: Safer for Everyone, 2000).
11. For every 1% reduction in average traffic speed, crashes reduce by an average of 5% (Taylor et al, TRL 421, 2000). This relationship means that even marginal reductions in average speeds can result in major road safety gains.
12. Impact speed determines the severity of injury, e.g. at 35 mph you are twice as likely to kill someone as you are at 30 mph (DETR 1999). 90% of pedestrians hit by a car travelling at 30 mph will be seriously injured. Nearly half of them will be killed (New Directions in Speed Management, DETR, 2000). The change from mainly survivable injuries to mainly fatal injuries takes place at speeds of between about 30 and 40 mph, (Ashton, 1981).
13. Estimates for 2000 suggest that 6% of all road casualties and 16% of road deaths occurred when someone was driving whilst over the legal limit for alcohol (Road Accidents Great Britain 2001: The Casualty Report).
14. An estimated 10% of collisions are related to driver fatigue (Tomorrow’s Roads: Safer for Everyone, 2000).
15. Vehicle defects are a contributory factor in an estimated 5% of collisions (Sabey 1980, On-the-Spot Study, TRL).
-
mrP(Boonen)VT - lives on this board 24/7!!!
- Posts: 4430
- Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2002 9:10 pm
- Location: kitchen chair
Re: Cycling is too dangerous!
by Ivor » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:18 pm
[quote="mrP(Boonen)VT"]How often do "non" cyclists come out with this old chestnut...here's a response
yeah, trouble is they then follow it up with and when's the last time you fell off.
-
Ivor - lives on this board 24/7!!!
- Posts: 1268
- Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:10 pm
- Location: Oxted, Surrey
.