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Modern Cycling is Becoming Much More Hazardous!!!

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Modern Cycling is Becoming Much More Hazardous!!!

Old 03-06-23, 03:25 PM
  #51  
Leisesturm
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Originally Posted by rydabent
I have long advocate smart phones soft ware be set so they turn off if traveling faster than 10MPH!!!!!!
Mine already does that! Yours doesn't? I'd be surprised. My GPS does it. My cellphone does it. Even my iPad does it. And? What? ALL of these devices throw up a block to screen input when they determine that the user is driving, but you can always and easily defeat the warning. And (I am told) you should be glad of this the next time you are forced into someones trunk headed who knows where and to what uncertain fate, that your phone will let you call for help instead of 'turning off' on you.
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Old 03-06-23, 03:26 PM
  #52  
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Originally Posted by shelbyfv
IKR. I caught that too but there is just so much else to pick on here.
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Old 03-06-23, 03:34 PM
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Every activity involves risks.
Everything will kill you eventually. Die doing something fun.
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Old 03-06-23, 05:44 PM
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I'm not so sure that cycling in Toronto has become more dangerous. At worse the driving is the same. Ever since our joke-Mayor left, we have been installing more cycling infrastructure that keep cyclists separated from drivers. And in the odd occasion where driver and cyclist interact at these places, I've seen drivers give way.

And then there's technology. When cycling on roads and streets without bike lanes, rear-facing cameras keep most drivers at bay.

I've never had a face-to-face confrontation with a bad driver. The worse, just as before, is a bit of honking and attempted bullying but nobody has tried any intentional harm.
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Old 03-06-23, 06:52 PM
  #55  
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I was thinking about responding with data, and an observation about the absence thereof in the Op’s assertion.

However, reading the whole thread, all I can say is get off my lawn.
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Old 03-06-23, 07:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Maelochs
What I see is that cycling deaths remain about constant, drivers are vastly more courteous than they were a few decades back, bike lanes are much more common ....

Yeah, safer.

A few weeks ago I was coming back from somewhere far away---an out-of-town job---driving down a divided highway at night. For the first time ever i saw headlight s coming my way ... on my side of the highway. I was tid enough I didn't even get upset, I just pulled to one side and kept driving. I thought about calling 911 but figured either someone else would or had, or the driver would figure it out, or something terrible would happen, before the fifteen-minute response time ...

Is this proof that driving is less safe, or that I am selfish?

To me driving is very safe, since I wrecked some cars playing boy racer and realized it was not a fun sport. Cars are certainly safer, and deaths per million miles has been falling steadily for decades. And guess what? Those distracted drivers in cars? They drive Cars. So .... shouldn't accidents be up? Yet I don't seem to have any , on my bike or in my car.

I must be doing it wrong.

This is Not A&S. If you want to dragoon people into agreeing with you, go over there. I still do a lot of rides around rush hour, and I don't have a lot of issues. Sorry for those who do. Sorry if I am not allowed to disagree with you .... but here i am.
I don't think bicycle accident data is nearly refined or granular enough to say whether or not it is more dangerous. How many cyclists were on the road then and now? What are the exposure hours for then and now?
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Old 03-06-23, 10:42 PM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
I don't think bicycle accident data is nearly refined or granular enough to say whether or not it is more dangerous. How many cyclists were on the road then and now? What are the exposure hours for then and now?

I think the burden of proof is on the person making the three exclamation point positive claim at the top of the thread. Given population increases, there's nothing in the data to suggest a significant increase in danger as a long-term trend, there has been a significant uptick in fatalities during the pandemic, but that may very well be the result of more people riding.
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Old 03-06-23, 10:48 PM
  #58  
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mind boggling

Originally Posted by michaelm101
Putting oneself in a 4,000lb vehicle to go a few miles is inefficient and stupid. Selfish (and perhaps stupid) is riding the wrong way in a bike lane at night without lights.
Yup, 4000 pounds car or truck , to move 1 person and a couple bags of grocery. Now think about a jumbo jet fuels up on 23,000 gallons of fuel and goes up in the air!!??
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Old 03-07-23, 06:02 AM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by rossiny
Yup, 4000 pounds car or truck , to move 1 person and a couple bags of grocery. Now think about a jumbo jet fuels up on 23,000 gallons of fuel and goes up in the air!!??
I would be against people taking jumbo jets to go 2 miles to the grocery store. What do jet planes have to do with the topic?

We got on the overuse of cars because OP isn't buying the idea that e-vehicles are making things safer by getting some people out of cars. You want to compare CO2 emissions per mile between car drivers and airline passengers? Different thread and forum entirely.
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Old 03-07-23, 06:20 AM
  #60  
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Originally Posted by Eric F
Everything will kill you eventually. Die doing something fun.
Gasping for breath in agonizing pain??
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Old 03-07-23, 10:27 AM
  #61  
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Originally Posted by JoeyBike
Gasping for breath in agonizing pain??
Some of us do that for fun. It's weird.
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Old 03-07-23, 10:51 AM
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Originally Posted by rydabent
I have long advocate smart phones soft ware be set so they turn off if traveling faster than 10MPH!!!!!!
have you heard of “passengers?” or trains, buses, boats, airplanes?

how about we make it like most anything else which poses an increased risk to those around you - make it illegal, add some good warnings and signage and training/education to make sure everyone knows, come up with some new technologies to mitigate the desire, and then actually enforce the law with stiff penalties.

drunk driving deaths, for example, have decreased by 40+ percent in the last few decades.
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Old 03-07-23, 11:21 AM
  #63  
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>> Gasping for breath in agonizing pain??

That was me, climbing a 23 % grade on a Moser with 42 x 26 gears, toe clips & straps, and tennis shoes.
Didn't die but sure felt like it. And that was 30 years ago.

FWIW, cycling deaths in Michigan are up 80% over the last decade.

cheers -mathias
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Old 03-07-23, 11:23 AM
  #64  
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Could try making every vehicle come standard with a standard transmission & give an option to opt for an automatic at a hefty price. Insurance companies could also influence the market by giving a noticeable discount incentive to have a standard transmission. Additionally, the state DMV could reflect a lower registration rate for vehicles equipped with a factory standard transmission.

It might increase "delayed" movement from a stopping event, but that is where another's vehicle horn could play a role.
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Old 03-07-23, 06:42 PM
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
I think the burden of proof is on the person making the three exclamation point positive claim at the top of the thread. Given population increases, there's nothing in the data to suggest a significant increase in danger as a long-term trend, there has been a significant uptick in fatalities during the pandemic, but that may very well be the result of more people riding.
I am a boating safety professional by trade. We saw a 20+% rise in fatalities nationally in 2020, it dropped off slightly in 2021. Our data doesn't provide us with exposure hours, but our observations all across the country were that boat ramps had near holiday weekend level of traffic every weekend. Preliminary 2022 numbers look like no change from 2021. Not only are more people enjoying outdoor activities, boaters specifically are engaging in boating to get away from it all and burn off stress. They are dropping their guard in the process. That and there are a lot of new entrants into the various activities. That often translates into more mistakes and the lack of experience to employ defensive tactics that we all develop over time.
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Old 03-08-23, 06:05 AM
  #66  
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
I am a boating safety professional by trade. We saw a 20+% rise in fatalities nationally in 2020, it dropped off slightly in 2021. Our data doesn't provide us with exposure hours, but our observations all across the country were that boat ramps had near holiday weekend level of traffic every weekend. Preliminary 2022 numbers look like no change from 2021. Not only are more people enjoying outdoor activities, boaters specifically are engaging in boating to get away from it all and burn off stress. They are dropping their guard in the process. That and there are a lot of new entrants into the various activities. That often translates into more mistakes and the lack of experience to employ defensive tactics that we all develop over time.

​​​​​​Without reliable exposure data, it's impossible to know whether the increase in riders getting hit is just reflecting directly the increase in people riding. If that's the case, from an individual perspective, there's been no increase in my risks riding.
I do think one should be very careful comparing bike safety stats to boating stats. Obviously, I'm no expert, but bike stats are related to automobile stats. I don't think there's any equivalent relationship with boat statistics and those of any other activity. Feel free to correct me on that, but I think boating and cycling are more different than they are alike.
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Old 03-08-23, 06:34 AM
  #67  
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Probably is easier to drive a boat while drunk than ride a bike. Hey, where's OP? Maybe he can't find his thread since it was (appropriately) moved.
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Old 03-08-23, 09:10 AM
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
I am a boating safety professional by trade. We saw a 20+% rise in fatalities nationally in 2020, it dropped off slightly in 2021. Our data doesn't provide us with exposure hours, but our observations all across the country were that boat ramps had near holiday weekend level of traffic every weekend. Preliminary 2022 numbers look like no change from 2021. Not only are more people enjoying outdoor activities, boaters specifically are engaging in boating to get away from it all and burn off stress. They are dropping their guard in the process. That and there are a lot of new entrants into the various activities. That often translates into more mistakes and the lack of experience to employ defensive tactics that we all develop over time.
Hoo boy. Ch. 16 and 22A were a constant source of shock and morbid entertainment during those years and there was matching high-speed insanity on the roads. I hope this season is better.
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Old 03-08-23, 10:00 AM
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Do we really have reliable data on cycling hazards?

When I went to the ER and then to the trauma center, nobody from the government records that data.

Depending on the country, cycling has been estimated to be 20-80 times more deadly per mile than riding in a motor vehicle although I doubt the fatality rate per 100mm miles has changed much.
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Old 03-08-23, 11:17 AM
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Originally Posted by GhostRider62
Depending on the country, cycling has been estimated to be 20-80 times more deadly per mile than riding in a motor vehicle although I doubt the fatality rate per 100mm miles has changed much.
Such "estimates" are probably highly dependent on the agenda or predetermined/preferred "solution" being promoted by the person/organization providing the estimate.
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Old 03-08-23, 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by GhostRider62
Do we really have reliable data on cycling hazards?

When I went to the ER and then to the trauma center, nobody from the government records that data.

Depending on the country, cycling has been estimated to be 20-80 times more deadly per mile than riding in a motor vehicle although I doubt the fatality rate per 100mm miles has changed much.
I don't think we have any idea. We might know the fatality number, but that's the tip of the injury iceberg and, as far as I can tell, we have no idea of the size of the cycling population or the amount of time they spend riding.
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Old 03-08-23, 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by MoAlpha
I don't think we have any idea. We might know the fatality number, but that's the tip of the injury iceberg and, as far as I can tell, we have no idea of the size of the cycling population or the amount of time they spend riding.
Also in some, if not most of these estimates of bicycle injuries we have no idea if all injuries or number of ER visits as a result of bicycling mishaps, from skinned knee to traumatic amputations and even no injuries (checked out at ER, "just in case") are added together to arrive at "shocking" totals without any consideration of the severity of injuries incurred.
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Old 03-08-23, 01:13 PM
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Originally Posted by GhostRider62
Do we really have reliable data on cycling hazards?

When I went to the ER and then to the trauma center, nobody from the government records that data.

Depending on the country, cycling has been estimated to be 20-80 times more deadly per mile than riding in a motor vehicle although I doubt the fatality rate per 100mm miles has changed much.
That seems like a stat designed to push an agenda. The difference in speed between a bike and car skews the picture. To me, comparing by hours would be more realistic.
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Old 03-08-23, 02:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Eric F
That seems like a stat designed to push an agenda. The difference in speed between a bike and car skews the picture. To me, comparing by hours would be more realistic.
There are a whole bunch of variables that would skew the results.

For example, a stretch of road with no cars is much safer to cycle on than one with the maximum number of cars that will still allow them to exceed the speed limit. And then if the volume of cars increase so much that they turn into congested traffic, it would be slightly more dangerous than it with no cars on it and much less dangerous with cars going at full speed. That's because the cyclist is in control to navigate past all the cars as if they were just obstacles.

However, a road with any number of cars on it is always a danger to itself and each other. A single car can get into self collisions. Congested traffic can get drivers into fender benders. And of course cars going full speed often smash into each other.


All that variation on the same stretch of road.

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Old 03-08-23, 03:29 PM
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
Also in some, if not most of these estimates of bicycle injuries we have no idea if all injuries or number of ER visits as a result of bicycling mishaps, from skinned knee to traumatic amputations and even no injuries (checked out at ER, "just in case") are added together to arrive at "shocking" totals without any consideration of the severity of injuries incurred.
True, but for every ER visit there is one or more ICD codes, so the info would be easy to find in a bike injury registry if anyone ever decided to create one.

And then, of course, there are the fools such as I, who refused to let my long-suffering spouse take me to the ER with a definite concussion after my last kinetic encounter with an automobile.
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