Franconian Beer Message Board
OT: Cycling in Britain |
| Posted by Chap on 2012-11-09 02:24:14 |
| I thought it would be easy to respond to Nick's suggestion that the statistics on death rate per km bicycled per country must be available - after all, this morning's Daily Telegraph tells us that "Bikes still account for just over two per cent of all journeys made in Britain, which compares with 26 per cent in Holland, where the fatality rate is 1.1 per 100 million miles cycled compared with Britain’s average in recent years of one per 32 million." These figures seem to come from the Dutch Cycling Embassy, as published in the Times - http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3394181.e ce - which itself sparked off a furious debate among British cyclists at http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=62940 , some of whom are vehemently opposed to cycle tracks! It's interesting to see that other enthusiasms can create as much heat and "true-believers" as cask breathers and sparklers. But comparing statistics between countries can be very difficult - for example, should you adjust the NL/UK comparison for the fact that, because far more over 65s cycle in NL than in the UK, they account for two-thirds of fatalities? Intuition and perceptions are probably a better guide to personal choice than relying on statistical probability, and if you don't feel safe cycling, you won't cycle safely. After living in Germany for a couple of years and the Netherlands for 20+, I think that the key difference between there and the UK lies in the Dutch Cycling Embassy's point that "the greatest advantages came through the integration of both cycling and pedestrians in all transport plans and projects from the outset." Cycle paths in the UK invariably seem to be carved out from existing roads, i.e. reducing the amount of space available to cars and trucks, which often benefits neither cyclists nor motorists and causes them to encroach on each other's space FWIW, the Daily Telegraph also has a rather depressing story mentioning top cyclists killed or injured recently while training on the roads at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/9664359/Firs t-Bradley-Wiggins-now-Shane-Sutton.-Two-accidents-highlight- dangers-of-countrys-biggest-growing-sport.html although it doesn't mention Olympic rowing gold medallist James Cracknell, who suffered brain damage cycling in Arizona when he was hit from behind by a petrol tanker. |
| Followups: |
 OT: Cycling in Britain by Nick B. on 2012-11-09 03:36:54 |
| OT: Cycling in Britain by barry on 2012-11-09 06:23:18 |
| OT: Cycling in Britain by Mike B. on 2012-11-09 07:00:41 |
| OT: Cycling in Britain by barry on 2012-11-10 03:33:23 |