Here are some interesting statistics that came through my email today.
Risk relative to cycling: fatality rates per participant
Relative risk per participant | ||
Less safe | Airsports | 450 |
Climbing | 137 | |
Motor sports | 81 | |
Fishing | 41 | |
Horse riding | 29 | |
Swimming | 7.0 | |
Athletics | 5.7 | |
Football | 4.9 | |
Tennis | 4.2 | |
Cycling | 1.0 | |
Safer | Golf | 0.83 |
Rambling | 0.06 |
Source: Lunch hour lecture on risks and benefits of active transport by Dr Jenny Mindell of UCL.
So there you go: cycling may not be as safe as playing golf, but it’s 41x safer than going fishing.
This is not to say that cycling safety is a non-issue. The (lack of) attractiveness and (perceived) danger associated with cycling is a major deterrent to more widespread cycle use in London. And far too many cyclists are unnecessarily getting hurt, but we must maintain some perspective.
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