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.
this is nice day.