Originally Posted by
electrik
The trouble with your statistic of 200 strikes is that its so general as to be near useless.
Those levels of risk are not the same as the odds. This is simply because lightning poses almost no danger to the majority of americans inside cars and buildings or on sheltered streets.
Lets say the war in iraq kills 400 americans each year.
If you don't differentiate the samples then you are saying the risk of being killed by the war in iraq while sitting in a rush hour traffic jam is the same as driving in a hummer on some iraqi street.
The levels of risk are not the same. It is not like you'll be sitting on a LA freeway and suddenly die in an IED attack. The same is true for the lightning, it is not like you'll be inside cooking dinner and suddenly be struck down by lightning. You are far more likely to die in an Iraqi IED attack when you are in iraq - you are far more likely to be struck by lightning when you are cycling through an open field while one is going on.
What you are doing, telling people it is no big deal to ride through a lightning storm is irresponsible.
What you're saying is ten times more useless. How many times do you find yourself commuting to work on your bike, "sitting in the middle of a soccer field?"
I think you'll find I'm not the idiot you seem to think I am. I understand that you have to differentiate between sample groups. I think that's actually what you're
failing to do. The vast,
vast majority of people riding their bikes are going to be doing so in cities, where they're surrounded by buildings and trees much taller than them.
Even when you take the extremely small subsection of cyclists who make a habit of riding through empty fields in major thunderstorms... That is still a subsection
much more likely to be injured or killed by things other than lightning.
I also think you'll notice that I never said "it is no big deal to ride through a lightning storm." In fact, I've taken great pains in every single post to outline the very real dangers of riding in a thunderstorm—poor visibility, slick roads, gusting winds, flying debris, obstructions hidden by water and most importantly
drivers that are also dealing with all of that crap. I guarantee that if you did a study of all cycling injuries/deaths sustained during storms, you'll find that well over 99% of the time, it had nothing to do with anyone or anything being struck by lightning. You see? I'm not telling anyone to go out riding in a thunderstorm—
I'm telling them that riding in a thunderstorm is very dangerous, just not because of the threat lightning poses.