Originally Posted by closetbiker
Personally I prefer to use the 30 million number because isn't it usually the case where someone who cycles very little, gets in the collisions?
The person who rides on the wrong side of the road, the person who blasts through intersections without looking for on-coming traffic, the one sprinting across lanes to get to the other side of the road, no lights at night - dressed all in black, the child riding unsupervised in traffic, the DUI, no-licence drunk trying to get home that don't put in very many miles or hours running into trouble?
They're one of the other 22.5 million and not one of the 7.5 million.
I don't know if over all the cyclists who ride very little are the ones to die; I do know that in the last year several people died in bike accidents here in Indiana and all were long time cyclists according to the newspaper. And the people that I knew of that died over the years when I lived in California were all long time cyclists. I would think that a person who cycles more is exposing him/her self more to possible bad situations. It's a known fact that someone who drives 40,000 miles (or more) a year in their car (or truck as some may be professional drivers) has a higher risk of an accident then someone who only drives 7,000 miles due to exposure.