Word. Cement/dump truck season is upon us once again. Urg.

You are right, the posted graph is a simple way of looking at the gathered "data", but does not come close to providing any useful information about the actual risk incurred by participation in any of those activities.

The odds of dying by legal execution is very low for the public at large; the risk for those who participate in the activity are quite high.

Risk is not determined or evaluated by gathering data on the odds of any single activity occurring in a lifetime, but rather evaluating the likelihood that negative events will occur when (and if) exposed to the "hazard", as well as the likely severity of the negative event.

Hydroplane speed
 

9 x square root of the inflation pressure. 98.5 mph for 120 PSI. You make it hydroplane and I'll bow down before you...

hey, did you ever see the movie 28 days later? that guy got in a bike accident, and he lived, but everyone else turned into zombies while he was in a coma. i don't think your friend is taking that into consideration.

So what you are saying is if I ride a bike 10,000 miles a year and drive a car... never, then I'm at an infinitely higher risk of dying on a bike than I am in dying in a car?

Then I'll stop riding a bike and drive my car. But wouldn't that make driving an infinitely higher risk than riding?

We can simplify the chart by saying that LIVING = 1 in 1 risk of DYING. Now that it's all evened out, we can all just go about the business of living... and riding. :D

The graph and the data aren't meant to provide any information on the 'risk' involved in an activity. They are not stated that way nor presented that way. They are the 'odds' of death from a particular activity based upon all the causes of death in 2004 based on your living in this nation and in this population of people. I'll agree that the risk of dying in a particular activity depending on the activity. The risk of dying in an activity depends a lot on the location of the activity. For example, the risk of dying in a shark attack is probably pretty low. The risk of dying in a shark attack in Colorado is probably much, much closer to zero then in California which is much lower then if you go in the water;)

However, when someone makes a statement like this

he's not looking at the risk of his own actions. Comparing the odds of his death in an automobile accident...a supposedly safe activity...vs the odds of dying on a bicycle...a supposedly unsafe activity...with a simple easy to grasp graphic tells him just how full of crap he is;)

There's no rational, intellectual way to respond to people who send you bike crash links.

So I retaliate in kind.

Every time there's a car crash--especially if it's an SUV rollover (We've had at least one a week of those lately)--I retaliate by sending the link to the article to the person trying to get me off my bike. After a few of those, they quit hassling me.

Here's one from today's Star. Not the best example since there's a question of speed and intoxication, but you get the idea. I can't figure out why The Star makes you pay for any article other than today's paper...

Yeah, not the best example because co-workers never sit around joking about how fast they were driving, and everyone knows you can go 10-15 over the speed limit. When they do go to a get together at a bar, everyone jokes at how you ride there (in winter) and offers you a lift home... because I'll be safer going 60 odd in a car controlled by a drunk than at 10 on something that requires me to be sober enough to balance.

I don't have a link for you, but the equivalent of 10 Boeing 747 jets full to capacity die on US highways ever single day in auto crashes. Seems high to me and I may stand corrected. Google for yourself.

This is as close as I could get as I gotta get off the computer now:

Auto deaths in developed countries 400 times greater than terror related deaths.

Tell him he'd better not ever eat a cheeseburger again, or he might choke on it and/or have a heart attack from the artery clogging fats.

by the way I love cheeseburgers.

Tell him you're either going out under the wheel of a car, or as a big fat slob who never exercises, and therefore has high blood pressure, and cholesterol, etc.

The health benefits outweight the risks.

The well known figure is something like 45000 deaths per year in the US. Divide by 365 to get 124 deaths per day. If you look at individual days, it's likely that some weekdays, or holidays, might have 3 747s full. I don't know if I've ever even seen a 747, so I'm off googling...416 passengers in the minimum configuration, so that's around 4160 people. Nope, no way it's that many even on something like new year's day. I'd be surprised if even one 747 full died in the US on any given day.

That could be close worldwide. Looks like the worldwide road fatality number is in the range of 1.17 million. That's 3200 a day. That's at least within spitting distance.

This is a really nicely designed chart. It's very visually appealing Do you have a link to the article in which is appeared?

Just took your advice and forwarded him the link, advising him not to drive as that might happen. lol
I figure i can find more car accident links articles than he can bike ones... lol

A life lived in fear is not a life lived. Be aware and be safe but also be bold in what you do.

On my drive in the car I commute on a roadway, divided highway, where there have been regular vehicle crossovers resulting in head-on collisions. The state then put in a cable barrier, but the vehicle crossovers continue with some cars managing to get past the cables and still getting to the other side. There is little to nothing I can do about it apart from avoiding that portion of freeway while in my car. So instead I just continue to use that roadway.

I can't control what other people do. I also ride motorcycles and have had people nearly hit me in broad daylight in plain sight while I was right in front of their face but their mind was focused on something else. Real interesting to be able to actually see them "wake up" when they come to realize that something just magically appeared into their consciousness (sp?). And there ain't a dang thing you can really do about it.

I've nearly been hit while walking in a crosswalk crossing a street with the light, or have had cars buzz me close enough that I could bang their fender with my fist. There ain't a dang thing you can do to prevent an aggressing impatient driver from acting rudely or irresponsibly.

I just picked up a copy of the book "Bicycling and the law" (ISBN-13: 978-1-931382-99-1) which looks to be a good book. The book won't do a thing to help me control what other people do, but will give me some additional tools and perspectives relative to the various situations I will encounter as my bicycle commuting and riding pics up once the weather breaks here.

You do what you gotta do, nothing is 100% safe, don't be stupid, but also don't live in fear. The more of us that ride, the more awareness that the car driving public will be forced to have. Ride responsibly and hope that the drivers drive responsibly as well. And then invite the co-worker on a bicycle ride and suggest that they look into cycle commuting as well.

Exactly!

Who was it that said ( Life is a sexually transmitted fatal disease.) :D So enjoy the inevitable.

Well, yes, your friend is right. Logically, there is a higher risk to riding on busier streets. But you could just as easily not see debris on a bike path, hit it, go flying over your handle bars and break your neck slamming into a tree. I'd venture to say that in any riding situation, the more you pay attention to your surroundings, the safer you'll be.
It's true, drivers don't see things unless they're huge and have flashing lights. Even then, they miss a lot. But if you're smaller, lighter and more manuverable and paying attention, you could most likely get yourself out of trouble without much if any damage. Accidents happen. It's a part of life. But they shouldn't stop you from living your life.

everyone's greatest fear is other drivers. at least we all have that in common.

That's why you should always pack a Zombie Defense Kit with you.

I linked to it in another post on this thread.

lemme guess -- the ****** didn't want to walk down the stairs?

It's often said that "anti-motoring cyclists" smear the reputation of drivers by exaggerating the lawlessness and risks on the road.

But as the OP suggests, I have found it is other drivers, through paranoid ramblings such as that one, who have the lowest opinions of their fellow motorists.

After zombies of course. Can zombies balance on a bike? If so they'd be a lot faster I bet.

i find it a bummer when my coworkers try to point out how unsafe it is to ride to work like i do - total buzzkill. i am usually the most aware and awake person out there! if only they knew how happy it makes me... thankfully i am very stubborn and refuse to give up the things i love doing based on other people's ******** opinions of what they think is safe.

"I'm not dead yet."