Oi...check this.....so what they are really saying is the cost to the community of us getting killed & maimed is less than if we get fat & go to hospital with a heart attack or sumphing!......bet the researchers got paid millions for this bit of insight!

Cycling benefits 'outweigh deaths'
By Kate Williams
December 8, 2004

THE benefits of regular bike riding outweighed the loss of life through cycling accidents, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said today.

About 35 cyclists die on Australian roads each year, but a recently published report said while the risks of cycling should not be ignored, they must be considered with the benefits.

The ATSB report, Cycle Safely, said on average about 2500 bike riders were seriously injured on public roads each year.

Cyclists accounted for about 2 per cent of road deaths and about 11 per cent of people seriously injured on the roads each year, the report found.

But despite the deaths and injuries, the report said that regular cycling had been shown to have health benefits, including reducing heart disease, obesity and hypertension.

It said an overseas study had shown that encouraging bike riding had not led to an increase in cyclist deaths and injuries.

The study found that an increase in the number of cyclists in European towns and cities was associated with a reduction in the rate of deaths and serious injuries.

"The overall community benefits gained from regular cycling are likely to outweigh the loss of life through cycling accidents," the report said.

The report revealed that the number of cyclist deaths had fallen by 82 per cent from 142 in 1950 to 26 last year.

It found the number of cyclists killed on the roads was seven times fewer than the number of pedestrians, but the number of seriously injured cyclists and pedestrians was similar.

"Focusing solely on cyclist deaths underestimates the magnitude of cycle trauma," the report said.

"There are considerable benefits to the community in reducing the number of serious injuries, given the costs of ongoing disability."

Forty-six per cent of cyclists seriously injured were aged 16 or younger in 2000 and 2001, compared with 8 per cent of vehicle occupants and 24 per cent of pedestrians in the same age group.

Eighteen per cent of cyclists seriously injured were aged between 26 and 39, 16 per cent were 40 and 59, 14 per cent were aged 17 and 25, while 6 per cent were aged 60 and over.

The high proportion of children seriously injured while cycling was probably due in part to the number of children who cycled relative to the rest of the population, the report said.

About 62 per cent of those aged between five and 14 cycled at least once between April 2002 and April 2003.

The report said that while children should be educated about the risks of cycling, they should not be discouraged from bike riding.

AAP