Originally Posted by
myrridin
My guess is that driving is more dangerous on a per mile basis, since many of those car miles are at far higher speeds, after all few drivers would be killed in collisions that occurred at the speeds cyclists routinely travel.
Don't think that works out that way since in most cases, cycling is not an alternative at all to most high speed driving trips, especially long distance (inter-city) travel. Almost no routine cycling is done for long distance trips. Bicycle club rides, tours and centuries are an insignificant, infinitesimal slice of miles traveled in the U.S.
I suspect that
total cycling mileage is far, far less than 0.55% of
total mileage traveled in U.S by vehicles. Especially when vehicle passengers are included in the calculations.
The source of dougmc's stat of 0.55%
trips by bicyclists is unclear, I suspect it only relates to short distance commuting trips, and includes no long distance or intercity trips at all.