Originally Posted by
dougmc
Well, ...
Don't guess.
FARS is a reliable and trusted agency that provides accurate information.
They peg driving at .47 deaths per million exposure hours, cycling with a .26 deaths per million exposure hours, and motorcycling at 8.8 deaths per million exposure hours.
This of course takes into no account of the increase in lifespan a cyclist can expect from the regular exercise cycling demands. Taking this, and the deaths to cyclists into account, people who ride bikes live on average longer than those who do not use a bicycle for transportation.
As I previously quoted a page or two ago,
Cycling may not be a panacea for the ills of modern society but it addresses a huge number of them...
A bicycle isn't dangerous. A bicycle is
beneficial. Cyclists, on average, live longer than regular folk. If more people ride them, we'll be safer, we'll be healthier, and the air that we all breath will be cleaner.
... and don't forget, if all the people who drive cars, rode bikes instead, those 40,000 deaths would virtually vanish.
Not that it would ever happen. People are just too in love with that contraption that kills. After all, they're fun, sexy, and establish stature in society. As long as the deaths happen to someone else, most people don't even worry about the chance they could be killed too.