Ah, another Guliani.

They are not investigative, they are entertainment and opinion. Like Fox, Primtime, ET etc. Be carefull of these types of entertainment shows pretending to be for grownups.

I found the show to be similar to a Time Magazine cover story I posted about recently on - Road rage--scaring people off the roads? in the advocacy forum.

Time mentioned, as did Stossel, that after 9/11 people took to the roads instead of the air. For the next 3 months there were an additional 1,000 deaths per month above regular deaths on the roads.

In that article, they have a nice graphic of what kills people each year and what we worry about, is often not what kills us.

Accidents kill only 4% of people dying and motor vehicle accidents make up almost half of that total. Deaths on bicycles are a tiny slice (less than 1%) on par with falling out of bed and choking on food. Far more prevelant are choking on other objects (more people die choking on pens than crashing on bicycles here in Canada), dying in a fire, or falling down stairs.

Much larger in the picture (almost half of all deaths) are from conditions cycling helps prevent, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.

So people perceive one thing while reality paints a different picture.

In the thread, - Culture of Fear - I started a long time ago, I mentioned a very similar magazine article in Macleans Magazine entitled, "THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE BAD NEWS - SARS, West Nile, Mad Cow--yes, it's tough out there, but we're making progress."

same thing again. Recurring theme, that fear thing.

Yes, 20/20 famous investigative news. Their the ones that showed the CVN-65 Enterprise, an aircraft carrier, in 1981 so lacking in parts that if war had broke out and our aircraft carriers had to respond only 28% of the aircraft would be launch ready...that was lie. Their also the ones that reported that side gas tanks on Chevy trucks would explode if broadsided by a vehicle, and after all attempts to get one to explode failed they rigged explosives to blow the tanks to prove their point on national TV. Their also the ones that said that the Space Shuttle was dangerous and a flying death trap with one failing about every 5 years; and then showed what seemed to be a villiage idiot testing electrical current to a particular wire in a maze of wiring on a shuttle with nothing but a light bulb because NASA didn't have the money for proper testing tools and caution was being thrown to the wind; no one mentioned that space travel is hazardous by it's very nature. Who know what other news reports 20/20 jacked up for our entertainment enjoyment!!!

Yes indeed, 20/20 is trash TV.

(more people die choking on pens than crashing on bicycles here in Canada)

So take that bloomin' pen outta yer mouth when riding! Imagine crashing, being saved by your helmet, but choking on the damned pen!!!

OK all, I'm convinced.

First thing in the morning, I'm gonna buy a wig for my helmet. Drivers won't know I'm wearing one! If I'm really lucky, they'll assume I have some manner of *********** and exercise even more caution.

I've noticed this, too. When I'm riding to or from work, on the right side of the road and riding a straight line, drivers *still* tend to move into the next lane over to pass me - even if the next lane is an on-coming lane! I'm thankful that they're trying to be considerate, but at the risk of their own lives and vehicles? Nuh-uh; no thanks.

Can you get a tiny little helmet that goes on the end of your pen?

I believe it's called a condom.

no, no. a regular helmet is what's needed for the job. you see, it's just too big to fit in your mouth, so it works! (if it saves just one life, it's worth it!)

Shame on you for circumventing natural selection!

https://www.cbc.ca/22minutes/video.html

Open the link for February 27, 2007, "Fitness Break"

"Kids need to get the occasional cut and scrape, otherwise they grow up to be the kind of adult who trips and skins their knee and tries to sue the sidewalk, not to mention the occasional death to misadventure weeds out the dopey ones"

That was hilarious
Ack!

Based on the "research" presented on 20/20, it sounds like the best approach would be to

1) develop a helmet that looks like a simple beanie or bucket hat
2) dress in old dark clothing
3) put a cigarette in you mouth
4) weave the bike like you're drunk

By increasing your "ambiguity", and decreasing your predictability and apparent level of skill, drivers will automatically give you more room!

BTW - chipcom, how are these techniques working for you?

...get as many people as possible to ride bikes to reduce the risk of premature death!

Depends on what color I'm wearing. I find that pink tights and catholic schoolgirl skirts tend to cause drivers to initially pass much closer...but then accelerate much faster once they get up next to me!

... face to face with the bearded lady!

oh-ma gosh...chipcom..stop! Stop! I'm laughing so hard it hurts!

1. That's kind of deceptive when you're talking to cyclists, if it was among cyclists only then the percentage of deaths would be much higher.

2. I do agree with you that the reward outweighs the risk.

qft

cyclists have no greater danger per mile, per hour, per participant than any driver or pedestrian and I'd love to see evidence to the contrary.

Besides, we all know it's how you do something that's dangerous, not what you do. Couple that with what you've agreed with and add in the lack of collateral damage of a bicycle collision vs. an automotive collision, and we get to see what's really dangerous. People not riding bikes. (or people riding bikes like bozos)

Since a large percentage of people do not bike, there will not be that high of a percentage biking deaths, but only including cyclists the percentage will jump.

Just how many people do you think ride bikes in the USA? Whatever number you choose, divide it by the 600-700 cycling fatalities in the US last year, then get back to us with your percentage.

I'll make it easy on you...the 2000 Census estimated that between 411,000 and 750,000 cyclists bike to work, while BIA put the number at 4.9 million. Maybe 10%, if that, of cyclists ride to work, so if we use the high end of the commuting numbers by the census bureau, we can very conservatively assume that there are 7.5 million cyclists. (personally I believe the number is closer to 30 million, but what the heck). If we use 750 fatalities to make the math easy, we find that .001 (one one hundreth of one percent) of cyclists died last year. Even if you use the 750,000 figure of commuters-only in 2000, your still talking .1% (one tenth of one percent). I'm sure someone can provide more accurate numbers to play with.

How does your number compare?

Now that you mention it, he said less than 1% of 4 %.
Never mind, sorry.

I should have said divide into rather than by...durned new math!

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.