TravelSTATS (STAtisics on Travel Safety) is a brand new online application that anyone can use to query information about multiple dimensions (age, sex, time of day, geographic location, mode of transportation, etc.) of travel safety risk not just fatalities. Bicyclist and pedestrian risk is integrated into TravelSTATS.
The comparison of “Pedestrian” and “Bicyclist” illustrates the importance of looking at several exposure measures, especially when comparing across travel modes. On a per-minute basis, bicycling and walking have the same fatality risk. For any given trip, however, bicycling entails a substantially higher risk than walking (21 deaths per 100 million trips compared to 13.6). On the other hand, bicyclists cover more ground, and therefore on a per-mile basis, walking is riskier. Regardless of the exposure measure chosen, bicycling and walking are both more dangerous than being a vehicle occupant. Because of our use of the FARS data, these walking and biking fatality risks only account for risks of getting killed in a traffic incident.
These numbers show that city, state, and federal government need to devote far more resources to making traveling by foot and by bike safer. It is negligent to look at this data and not take any steps to mitigate the risk associated with walking and bicycling.
NEWSLETTER
2 Comments
Biking and walking certainly need to be made safer. But the quote that they are “both more dangerous than being a vehicle occupant” is misleading. Per-mile/trip/minute statistics for being killed in a traffic incident don’t add up to the overall risks of choosing a driving or biking/walking way of life. For that you need to take into account the health consequences of being sedentary or physically active, as well as the difference in travel patterns between drivers and walkers/bikers. Drivers spend much more time traveling, travel many more miles, and (I venture a guess) take more trips, so I speculate that the overall risk is higher. It would be nice to see that study. But I’ll bet AAA won’t fund it…
I agree with you on some level, Jake, but I think you’re going for something that would constitute overall quality of life, not merely risk associated with traveling as a specific activity.