Author Topic: How safe is safe on your bicycle: what sort of differential is worth mentioning?  (Read 7682 times)

Danneaux

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I just sat down on the far curb to get make sure I was still alive.
::shivers::

Boy, Jim, that's just too close. Way.

Best,

Dan. (...who might be wise to give up on the Motorcycle Dream here'bouts)

NZPeterG

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Well Well,
Having died once! its not all that bad.
Good to be alive again  :)
Having repaired and having had a few motorcycles over the 30 odd years I repair them I have had a close one (in the UK when working on OE)
I have had more bad off's cycling.
You have to go out the door and live....
Numbers are just Numbers until your Numbers up!

Have Fun, Be Safe, Have a Happy New Year..

Pete..
« Last Edit: December 30, 2013, 10:28:49 AM by NZPeterG »
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Andre Jute

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You have to go out the door and live....
Numbers are just Numbers until your Numbers up!

You'll never know if you don't have a go, — Slogan of the Victorian State Lottery

jags

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OR if your not in you can't win. ;D ;D

triaesthete

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 Was definitely a win for me  :)   Quit while you're ahead though.

Every day you wake up and you're not in pain is a good one. May you all have many such days in front of you.

Ian

jags

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Ian went out today only 11 miles nearly feckin died and i got bad indigestion definitly thought i was on the way out ;D

JWestland

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Those figures definitely include sporting riding, not just on-road riding. That's not all such global numbers hide, though. One of the most striking things in the charts is that a man is twice as likely to die on a car journey as a woman, and four times as likely on a bicycle journey. Perhaps we should get Jawine to tell us how she rides. Very likely those numbers tell us that women are more cautious, more skeptical about risk compensation, less reckless, more law-abiding, ride more predictably, etc.

Interpreting such tables is easy only for the foolish and the inexperienced, Tom; statistical analysis is much more of an art than its practitioners are willing to admit to outsiders. These particular numbers are solid though (because they are based on such a huge sample), and their main message is that cycling is, for practical purposes, as safe as any other common locomotional activity, bar riding public transport, which is much, much safer, and riding a motorcycle, which is much, much more dangerous.

I am very risk adverse and cycle/drive defensively. My 1.1L Hyundai Amica (called "dinky" after dinky toys) doesn't invite risk taking, and The *Other* Idiots On The Road don't either on bike/car.

I nearly got wiped out in the car a few times already, I actually prefer my cycle! At least there you can jump in a hedge/block lanes. On the road if a Legally Blind Driver does not observe the highway code in the most stupid manner possibly I have nowhere to go. I can't exactly drive my way out of trouble it's Crash Bang and everything over 20 mph is going to hurt. If you're lucky.

Well, I am surprised nobody mentioned walking that involves risks too...! ;)


Pedal to the metal! Wind, rain, hills, braking power permitting ;)

Andre Jute

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I didn't mention walking because on another forum I'm on the anti-helmet zealots are always screeching that pedestrians should be made to wear helmets because walking is lethal. But I used to be a big hillwalker, on the Munster hills and mountains every weekend, until I took up cycling as an activity you can practice every day.

Overall, not distinguishing between genders, chances of a non-fatal injury is about eight times as high on your bike as on your feet. Chances of a fatal injury are, for practical purposes, about the same whether walking or cycling. Walking is, on the whole, another very low risk activity, just like cycling, just like motoring, for that matter. Again, men are more at risk then women. None of these differentials actually make it to the magnitude we decided above should be the minimum differentiation factor to pay attention in such very low risk activities.

Your little Hyundai is as powerful at 62bhp as my first Porsche was, a plain 1600cc 356B which produced all of 60bhp. (Well, I had a Speedster before that  made 102bhp after I breathed on it, but it was strictly a racer.) But the Porsche was fun to drive and would not complain if cruised all day at its maximum of about 95mph.
« Last Edit: January 03, 2014, 05:44:38 PM by Andre Jute »

JWestland

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_from_laughter

You can tell them that on the walking with helmets forum :P

But then you won't see me on skis again. It must be all psychological...! Actually it is, as risk perception does not equal actual risk. This leads to Idiot Drivers (overconfident) and people too scared to cycle/drive (the other extreme)


Pedal to the metal! Wind, rain, hills, braking power permitting ;)