Is cycling dangerous

[malcolm]

Just read this article, doesn't really tell you much, but some of the data seemed counter intuitive.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/how-safe-is-cycling-its-hard-to-say/?_r=0

[mcteague]

I've ridden for decades and been hit by cars several times. Most of those caused little more than bruises and scrapes. However, my mt bike wrecks seem to damage me more! Just last month I fractured my collar bone and needed surgery to put things back together. I sort of figured riding in the woods was safer. Oh well, hard to imagine not riding at all.

Tim

[FlashUNC]

I do think the notion of the lack of police reports is an interesting one in terms of data collection.

My crash was significant, involved pretty serious rehab and recovery, but there was no police report for it. Just hospital records.

[MattTuck]

Risk is such an interesting topic.

From a common-sense perspective, we're riding around pretty fast on metal machines wearing lycra on most of our body and a helmet designed to be as light as possible, on roads used by much bigger/faster/heavier vehicles, the drivers of which are sometimes distracted and/or hostile to our use of the road. Does this strike you as an incredibly safe thing to do?

Ultimately though, you try to know the risks an minimize them where you can. I crashed once on a winding descent and flipped over a guardrail and went to the hospital. I no longer bomb descents. I've seen too many cars make unsignaled turns, now I anticipate that cars will turn in front of me without warning and am prepared to stop/get out of the way.

More to the point, knowing the 'right' absolute numbers for cycling is somewhat pointless. The real question is what is the risk from a relativistic perspective, compared to other similar activities. Running, adult ice hockey, cross fit, adult soccer, etc. Whatever group of comparable/peer activities you select, you'd want to know the risk of cycling relative to them (probably in terms of injury/hour of activity) so you could make choices about the potential cost against the benefit you gain from participating in that activity.

Making a decision based on the absolute risk for cycling is a bit narrow-minded and fatalistic.... if not cycling, then nothing!

[Mr. Pink]

I've ridden for decades and been hit by cars several times.

Were you the black guy I saw last night wearing all black on a black bike (I am not kidding here) who was riding on a major four lane road, I hope, to his home at pretty dark dusk time with just a little red blinker that looked like it needed charging?

I cross myself like my dear deceased grandmother when I see things like that.

[druptight]

Most importantly, everyone's risk profile is different. If some consider the risk too great - then don't ride a bike. For those of us who do, we've obviously made a conscious decision that the reward of riding is worth the risk. On this forum, every time we hear of a horrible accident, we all post about it - so it's not like we don't know. As Matt said, all we can do is be as aware and defensive as we find necessary for our risk profile - and keep riding.

[martl]

Were you the black guy I saw last night wearing all black on a black bike (I am not kidding here) who was riding on a major four lane road, I hope, to his home at pretty dark dusk time with just a little red blinker that looked like it needed charging?

I cross myself like my dear deceased grandmother when I see things like that.

I've been interested in bicycle accident research, cycling risk, perceived risk vs. real risk, etc for a long time.

Some facts i found:
- The safety discussion in the past decade has shown more people *think* cycling has become more dangerous. In fact, it hasn't.
(This phenomenon isn't restricted to cycling alone - see 'using SUVs for the added safety' etc). The linked resarch text confirms this: "The yearly death rate has ranged from 0.26 to 0.35 per 100,000 population, with no particular pattern"

- Neither bright colored clothing nor bad lighting or the complete lack of it are a big factor in cycling accidents. German police statistics count around 1% of all cycling accidents caused by "technical failure" which would include a broken or non-existent light.
The city of Westminster found the same thing:
"wearing dark clothing at night was believed to be a potential factor in just 2.5 per cent of the incidents analysed, while not using lights or jumping red lights were each cited as a factor in just 2 per cent of them."
http://road.cc/content/news/83104-two-thirds-cyclist-injuries-following-collisions-motor-vehicle-due-driver-says

[Steve in SLO]

Wisdom from Ed Viesturs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Viesturs

"Manage risk"

I was talking to him a while back, and we were comparing the lack of sketchy situations we have found ourselves in despite all the 'risky' activities we have been involved with. He came up with those 2 words which pretty much nails it for me.

His guiding principle is to get home safely, so decisions that avoid unneeded risk are made, which maximizes safety margin and minimizes the chance of bodily harm.

[jpw]

it is dangerous, but the more you do it the safer you make it.

[67-59]

Yes, cycling is dangerous. So is taking a shower.

[David Tollefson]

In 35 years of riding, I've never hit pavement because of a car.

[daker13]

My take from that article is that cycling isn't quite as dangerous as I would've thought. A message I was glad to read, after a few too many cycling accidents here in New England in the last couple of months. I haven't been on my bike as much since that stoned girl in Portsmouth killed the people in the charity ride.

[dogdriver]

Two Clint Eastwood quotes come to mind:

"A man's got to know his limitations."

If you choose to ignore the above, you venture into the realm of,

"Do you feel lucky, punk?"

This basic philosophy balances skill, comfort levels, and risk (inherent and external), and applies to riding, skiing, race car driving, bungy jumping, mountaineering, scuba diving, flying, alcohol and drug use, and walking in areas that have wild animals, just to name a few. Anything can be dangerous if you insist on making it so, and just because you just watched someone do something well within his ability doesn't mean that you're not being suicidal trying the same thing.

But I digress...

[jpw]

In 35 years of riding, I've never hit pavement because of a car.

that's an outstanding record. keep it up.

[mcteague]

Were you the black guy I saw last night wearing all black on a black bike (I am not kidding here) who was riding on a major four lane road, I hope, to his home at pretty dark dusk time with just a little red blinker that looked like it needed charging?

I cross myself like my dear deceased grandmother when I see things like that.

I always wear mostly red, yellow or white jerseys. People just don't see us sometimes no matter what we do. Just ask EMT folks how often cars pull in front of them when they have lights and horns going full tilt.

Tim

[mcteague]

In 35 years of riding, I've never hit pavement because of a car.

Now you've done it!:D

Tim

[Elefantino]

By my former standards, a poor article.

By the NYT's standards, worse. Hopefully. Unless the Times' standards are now below mine.

[CunegoFan]

I have never been hit by a car. I figure most of my close calls were my fault or could have been avoided with more defensive riding. I have a lot fewer close calls these days because I don't put myself in situations where they are likely to occur. This includes simply not riding many places that years ago I would have ridden with a c'est la vie attitude.

I generally ride with the thought that all drivers are #*&@$ idiots who cannot be trusted not to try to kill me, even if they have to break the rules of the road to do so.

[Chance]

Yes. Cycling is dangerous. So what? Lots of fun activities are.

From my experiences and observations, cycling could be made a little safer if bikes were designed with safety a higher priority.

[JStonebarger]

I've been hit from behind twice. Both times in broad daylight, wearing bright clothes, with a bright blinky on the back. Neither time was the car's driver asleep, texting, or chemically impaired.

Yes, cycling is dangerous. I just hope that by now I'm statistically over the hump.

[pavel]

life is dangerous

[fiamme red]

I've been hit by cars numerous times; most recently this January, my fault that time (I slipped on a patch of snow and fell into the path of the car behind me, cracked a rib). But I've only been hospitalized once when I was hit by a car, and that was the only time I filed a police report. So yes, I'd agree with the person in the article that cycling accidents are greatly underreported.

[flydhest]

I just think of the range of cyclists I have ridden with. the way some ride, cycling is an extremely dangerous activity. the way others ride, it is very safe.

it would be fun--but likely impossible--to compare data for people who can't hold a straight line (but think they can) versus actually competent cyclists.

[rain dogs]

Cycling as a whole is not at all dangerous. Not one bit.

It's the choices we make when throwing a leg over a bike, what routes we decide to take and where and when we choose to ride that greatly influence the level of danger.

Ride smart. Choose an intelligent route. Ride safe. Do those things and you'll ride for decades without incident. :)

Choose more risky riding if you so desire, as others have pointed out... many choices we make are dangerous, and many of those are very fun. :banana:

[William]

it would be fun--but likely impossible--to compare data for people who can't hold a straight line (but think they can) versus actually competent cyclists.

Which is which???:confused:

http://www.newbern-nc.info/images/bike.gif http://gingercycle.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/emotijeff-animated-bike.gif





;)
William

[Rebel_Biker]

I live and ride in NYC and cycling for me is dangerous, but I would have it no other way. I, like many others, try to mitigate the risks, but sometimes it is out of our hands.

I started commuting to Manhattan from Brooklyn about 6 months ago and forgot how much fun it is to ride a bike without counting miles or specific training. I love racing as well but commuting in NYC is special.

I have hit pavement, cars, fences on the Manhattan bridge, but luckily no serious injuries yet. I grew up as a BMX racer, and competitive vert rider in the late 80s, so cycling on the road is obviously less dangerous as we crashed multiple times a day in the half pipe.

[SPOKE]

I just think of the range of cyclists I have ridden with. the way some ride, cycling is an extremely dangerous activity. the way others ride, it is very safe.

it would be fun--but likely impossible--to compare data for people who can't hold a straight line (but think they can) versus actually competent cyclists.

There you go bringing "skills" into the discussion.....:)

[chromopromo]

I wish we had better statistics. My gut feeling is that cycling is one of the more dangerous activities outs there. (Before you start - I am excluding extreme sports etc.). It seems almost every cyclist I know that rides significant miles in DC has been hit by a car. I got hit from behind by a 90 year old riding down a quiet stretch of road in broad daylight. My brother-in-law just spend the night in the hospital - the victim of an illegal turn through traffic. I won't even start on mountain biking -- where skill and prudence is important. My lack of both has messed me up. Despite all this I will keep riding. But the danger does make me hesitate in encouraging my kids to ride.

[Louis]

Years ago when I was hit by a truck pulling a horse-trailer the police had absolutely zero interest in trying to track them down, even though he was most likely going to a polo match about a mile or so down the road.

I can only hope that if I had been killed and splattered all over the road, instead of just getting some road rash and torn bar tape, they may have shown a teeny bit more interest in finding the perp.

[rounder]

Risk is such an interesting topic.

From a common-sense perspective, we're riding around pretty fast on metal machines wearing lycra on most of our body and a helmet designed to be as light as possible, on roads used by much bigger/faster/heavier vehicles, the drivers of which are sometimes distracted and/or hostile to our use of the road. Does this strike you as an incredibly safe thing to do?

Ultimately though, you try to know the risks an minimize them where you can. I crashed once on a winding descent and flipped over a guardrail and went to the hospital. I no longer bomb descents. I've seen too many cars make unsignaled turns, now I anticipate that cars will turn in front of me without warning and am prepared to stop/get out of the way.

More to the point, knowing the 'right' absolute numbers for cycling is somewhat pointless. The real question is what is the risk from a relativistic perspective, compared to other similar activities. Running, adult ice hockey, cross fit, adult soccer, etc. Whatever group of comparable/peer activities you select, you'd want to know the risk of cycling relative to them (probably in terms of injury/hour of activity) so you could make choices about the potential cost against the benefit you gain from participating in that activity.

Making a decision based on the absolute risk for cycling is a bit narrow-minded and fatalistic.... if not cycling, then nothing!

I agree with most of that, except the part about the risk of riding compared to other similar activities. To me, if you are riding a bike, the only risk that matters is what can happen when riding the bike.

For me, the biggest recent change in riding has to do with riding down hills. It is hilly here, not mountainous, and the speed on most hills is 30-40. But the hills are windy so visibility is not good, there are occasional animals crossing the road, and there are loose gravel and fallen branches. I now slow down on descents but try to make up time going up the next hill. I like going fast but want to be responsible for job and family.

Cars are a concern, but not a primary concern on the roads here. But you always have to be concerned about the drivers. I know a few people who have ridden for a long time and have been hit by a car(s). I have not had any close calls while riding, but have seen many while driving. I have been averaging about 30,000 per year for the past few years. A few weeks ago, while driving in traffic on I-95 a girl in front of me started to turn off for an exit but changed her mind and steered left suddenly. She spun around in front of me. Could not believe that no one hit her. I saw in the rear view mirror that she was able to get off the road...she had to have been freaked out. Everyone makes mistakes, whether its people riding bikes or driving cars.

[cachagua]

Read an article in an Outdoors magazine many years ago about kayakers exploring a river in South America that wasn't even on any maps. They climbed up the west slope of the Andes, to where the river begins, and they put their boats in the water and took off.

Naturally there were places where they had to get out and reconnoiter, but they pretty much kayaked the length of the river down to where it brought them back to civilization (if we call the deep Amazon basin "civilization").

So there's a photo of a guy poised right at the lip of a 40-foot waterfall, just at the instant of going over and plunging into the pool below. And the caption of the photo is a quote from this guy. He says, "Going over a 40-foot waterfall in a kayak is perfectly safe, as long as nothing goes wrong".

And so, with us, isn't it?

[fogrider]

flying down a twisty mountain road at 55 mph is fun! add to that wind and fog and you better have some skills. riding is a challenge, everything from long climbs to fast descents, riding is a workout for the whole body and requires the mind to focus on the ever changing environment.

sure hang out at the er long enough and you will think everything will kill you! ride where there are few cars and do what you can to keep safe. but if you want to say safe, stay home and watch tv.

[Fixed]

I was hit on a sunday morning by a limo while riding in a bike lane ,
should have been in a group ride
Cheers :)

[Tony]

I've been involved in extreme ocean whitewater kayaking for over ten years. Was once hit by a great white here on the CA coast while surfing in my kayak. About a year ago I started cycling again, mostly to spend more time with my wife. I'm really enjoying my time on the bike and riding with my wife. I will say that cycling is more dangerous than ocean WW. I have had two very close calls with cars, none my fault, one a hit and run.

Tony
http://neptunesrangers.blogspot.com/p/our-action.html

[shinomaster]

I've been riding in big cities (including Boston) for 20 years and have only have one real accident when I was bumped by a car. It only damaged my bar tape.
I tend to be very cautious and feel you make your own luck in many cases. I really hope I'm not jinxing myself.

[downtube]

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
― Helen Keller

[JStonebarger]

Cycling as a whole is not at all dangerous. Not one bit.

It's the choices we make when throwing a leg over a bike, what routes we decide to take and where and when we choose to ride that greatly influence the level of danger.

Ride smart. Choose an intelligent route. Ride safe. Do those things and you'll ride for decades without incident. :)

Choose more risky riding if you so desire, as others have pointed out... many choices we make are dangerous, and many of those are very fun. :banana:

Uh huh.
I was hit from behind in broad daylight in bright clothes with a taillight blinking away while riding a quiet county road in rural Iowa. Which one of my choices led to the driver of the F150 leaning over for something on the floor of his cab and hitting me without ever seeing me or so much as touching his brakes?
I'd wager the hardware in my spine fusion that "riding smart" isn't enough to make cycling safe.

[PQJ]

I'd wager the hardware in my spine fusion that "riding smart" isn't enough to make cycling safe.

Bingo.

If today were rhetorical question day, I'd ask things like:
1. Is cycling dangerous?
2. Does a bear $hit in the woods?

That cycling is inherently dangerous shouldn't stop us from doing it. But let's not delude ourselves into thinking it isn't.

[mcteague]

I used to whitewater kayak years ago as well. Nothing too extreme and the worst injury was a torn ligament in my back caused by pulling someones kayak off a rock. There were no good places to stand and the boat was full of water. Felt something pop but felt okay. Slowly, I started having trouble standing up straight.

About 10 years ago I jumped over a log, riding my mt bike, only to find another, smaller log, behind it. Did a bell ringing head plant in the dirt. Had a very sore neck for some time. It occurred to me, had my head been tilted slightly to the left or right upon impact, I might have been chair bound the rest of my life.

Normal people joke about a death wish but this is the kind of fun I like. The accidents have made me dial things back a bit. I no longer WW kayak but that is more due to all the driving and variable river flow.

Tim

[azrider]

Raced for 5 years and avg about 4K miles per year on my bike and got away with nothing more than a little road rash here an there.

In June I was on a walking trail on my MTB and somehow broke my tib/fib.

I'd say cycling is dangerous.

[Tin Turtle]

Life is dangerous. Eventually it kills you.

[Louis]

Life is dangerous. Eventually it kills you.

Life doesn't kill you - the Grim Reaper does:

http://pictures.4ever.eu/data/download/cartoons/digital-art/%5Bpictures.4ever.eu%5D%20grim%20reaper,%20women,% 20scythe%20160877.jpg

[rain dogs]

Uh huh.
I was hit from behind in broad daylight in bright clothes with a taillight blinking away while riding a quiet county road in rural Iowa. Which one of my choices led to the driver of the F150 leaning over for something on the floor of his cab and hitting me without ever seeing me or so much as touching his brakes?
I'd wager the hardware in my spine fusion that "riding smart" isn't enough to make cycling safe.

I'm really sorry to hear about your accident, I certainly am not saying that if you've been in an accident it was your choice, and I think you know that I'm not.

Outliers exist. If the question is: Is cycling dangerous? It's not. Statistics show us that.

If cycling were dangerous, it would be dangerous in the Netherlands and Denmark, AND it's not dangerous in the Netherlands and Denmark. Therefore, cycling, in itself, is not dangerous.

Is cycling dangerous in some environments? Certainly. Is cycling more dangerous on some routes, in some countries? Sure. (In fact the US has been doing a fierce job of trying to convince people cycling is dangerous since the 50's, so many of these responses don't surprise me)

Can accidents happen anywhere in the randomness and chaos of life? Yes. That doesn't make cycling dangerous. Cycling may be very dangerous where some live, how some do it, or by the limitation of the infrastructure/culture in some environments, but that's certainly not all of cycling.

[Louis]

If cycling were dangerous, it would be dangerous in the Netherlands and Denmark, AND it's not dangerous in the Netherlands and Denmark. Therefore, cycling, in itself, is not dangerous.

I'm pretty sure accidents happen there too.

American drivers aren't the only ones who bend down to pick up something from the floor of their car or reach over to remove an 8-track / CD / MP3 player cable from the stereo - that's a human thing to do, not just an American thing.

[rain dogs]

I'm pretty sure accidents happen there too.

American drivers aren't the only ones who bend down to pick up something from the floor of their car or reach over to remove an 8-track / CD / MP3 player cable from the stereo - that's a human thing to do, not just an American thing.

That's a little tedious, no? Perhaps someone can define what we mean by dangerous?

In the Netherlands cycling is one of the safest modes of transport by all measures. Cars are magnitudes more "dangerous" with far more fatalities (per journey/ per 100km etc.). This is also true in the US, car accidents result in more deaths than gun incidents. Is driving dangerous?

I assumed that by dangerous we'd be comparing it to something else? If the slim possibility of a serious accident instantly means something is dangerous, then what isn't? What's the point of the question?

[Louis]

That's a little tedious, no?

No. ;)

[shovelhd]

8-track?

[bobswire]

8-track?

Well,it was on a country road and the guy was driving a pick-up. So odds are in favor of it being an 8 track.;)

As for myself I think my life in result of my overall health would have been in greater danger had I not took up cycling.