A friend of mine needs some help in demonstrating to their employer that cycling is not particularly dangerous. I realize it's not their employer's business but this is life, not an Ayn Randian vaccum.
What I would like, if you could, is statistics on risk involved with cycling, injuries per hour, etc. Epidemiologial data, deaths per unit of exposure for other people/bike related things. (My understanding is being a pedestrian is pretty dangerous. That most cycling fatalities are children and then people riding at night)
The person involved in this will be reading the post but not commenting. Data appreciated. Thank you.
It can be difficult to find statistics because bicycle accidents are underreported. This website has a lot of details and looks at what statistics are available in a number of different ways: http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/health/risks.htm
John Forester has a 1983 breakdown of types of night bike accidents at http://www.johnforester.com/Articles/Lights/cpscreq.htm, but it's not a ped/bike comparison.
In the KenKifer page that Kordite mentioned, my fave stat is the number of leading causes of death that cycling mitigates (under, The True Health Risks): heart disease, strokes, lung disease, diabetes, suicide.
A couple offerings:
First is NYC specific, but is unusual as it tries to compare bike, pedestrian and vehicle accident rates.
Second is Edgar Snyderm if all places. But, he offers PA and National data for 2010, 2009, etc.
http://www.transalt.org/files/resources/blueprint/chapter17/
http://www.edgarsnyder.com/bicycle/bicycle-statistics.html
I also have a number from PennDOT from their data base. It was just compiled recently. It's just a raw number, but I can't remember the details. I'll post it if I find it.
Infographic, via a friend:
http://www.nsc.org/NSC%20Picture%20Library/News/web_graphics/Injury_Facts_37.pdf
There are also plenty of thought put towards cycling being better for you over time than driving. That the health benefits far outreach the risks if you will.
Hot stuff. Thank you! Also, keep it coming.
The Alliance for Biking and Walking puts out a yearly Benchmarking Report with many cycling safety stats broken down. They also have a Resource Library web page. But this is all accessible to members only...
What area is your friend in? These stats are broken down by state and city. I can look some up.
Friend is in the Pittsburgh area. Do you need more of a breakdown than that? Thank you Karen.
It's a shame we have such scanty stats on what we do. What would really be useful in changing minds is to compare before and after stats: before and after traffic calming measures, before and after bike lanes were installed, etc.
Trying not to be too bully pulpit here, but the number of accidents involving cyclists obeying the rules WITH motorists obeying the rules, on streets that have been treated in even the simplest ways (like enforcing speed limits), must be quite small, but I am unaware of any good studies.
My fear is that your friend will be under-persuaded by the misinterpretation of too broad a study or a flawed study.
lies, damned lies, and statistics!
(hope the discussion goes well, sorry I have no stats to share, and good luck!)
Chris;
Did you check your messages?
Swalfoort mentioned that there are bicycle accident statistics here: http://www.edgarsnyder.com/bicycle/bicycle-statistics.html
You can compare them to pedestrian accident statistics here: http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/pedestrian-accident/pedestrian-statistics.html
Unfortunately the annual reports from PennDot and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tend to be behind.
