Originally Posted by
Kontact
Considering that the article states there were 998 cycling deaths in 1975 and there were 818 in 2015, that doesn't seem like much of an increase, but more of a fluctuation.
The most dramatic thing that will drive cycling accident numbers up is the number of cyclists on the road.
I don't know if you were around in '75, but that was during the biggest bike riding boom America has seen (with the possible exception of the late 1800s when it rose from zero). The year with the most total bicycles sold is still 1974. Put simply, there were a lot more of us riding then than now. Also note that total highway deaths in 1975 were also substantially higher, at about 44,000 compared to the 36,000 in 2015. These years are just in such different eras that they really shouldn't be compared. That's why the focus of the article was the change over the more recent years, other than noting that our cyclists are now mostly adults compared to prior decades.
In my state, roadway deaths are up a LOT more than the miles driven are up. Our slaughter rate has risen by about 60% since 2013, but total miles driven are up only a small fraction. There is a study showing that phone use is up quite a bit over that time (I'm too lazy to look it up), and that seems to be a dominating factor. Of course we continue to reduce traffic law enforcement from its already low levels, so that's going to affect driving behavior in a negative way as well.
I'll accept that there is a non-zero probability that I may be finished off while riding. Cycling adds quite a bit to my life that other forms of transportation don't, and driving has a similar, if ever so slightly lower, risk of sudden death (not to mention its impact on general health and the increased exposure to carcinogens while in a car). Taken as a whole, even accounting for the lives lost to CARnage, people who ride live longer on average. That's not helpful if you're one of those who is taken down, but you probably won't notice it anyway.
