Zeytoun states: "This is a very common error people make, confusing correlation for causation.
The correlation is club riding experience to fewer accidents. The causation he assumes is that it is the VC concepts of club riding that cause the fewer accidents."
There is a very great difference between correlation and causation, as I have frequently stated. One very great difference is that a reasonable causal connection has to exist for a correlation to be used as support for causation. We are discussing here only collisions between cyclists and motorists. It is recognized that obeying the rules of the road causes traffic to flow in patterns that do not cause collisions. Contrariwise, it is recognized that nearly all collisions are caused by one or both parties disobeying the rules of the road. It is also recognized that few American cyclists obey the rules of the road, while a much greater proportion of those with club cycling experience do so. If the club cyclists show a car-bike collision rate per mile only 25% of that of the general public, it is reasonable to conclude that obeying the rules of the road had a great deal in preventing collisions.