In article ,
Frank Krygowski writes:

I'm concerned about this because 2008, with its $4/gallon gas prices
in America, was noted for a sharp increase in cycling. With lots of
inexperienced cyclists hitting the roads, I'm betting the news a year
from now will be less pleasant. And I'm betting it will trigger a
rise in "Bicycling is Dangerous" nonsense, with calls for more
discriminatory laws.

I've come to the admittedly opinionated conclusion that those
who will ride, will. And those who won't, won't. And for the
most part, bicyclists are off the law-makers' radar. I'm not
worried.

(BTW, last I checked, the annual fatality count for cycling was
roughly the same as the fatality count for accidentally inhaling
poisonous gases.)

It seems a fair number of people have carbon monoxided themselves
to death. They didn't realize indoor barbeques are not such a
very good idea. Neither is running a gas-powered generator
indoors when the power goes out during an ice storm.

The reduction in bicyclist & pedestrian fatalities seems to
be contemporaneous with larger Personally-Owned Vehicles
(i.e: SUVs and suchlike) falling out of favour. I haven't
yet looked at the document to which you refer, so I don't
know if non-fatal injuries are up while the number of
incidents remains roughly the same.

As for the numbers regarding numbers of cyclists or miles ridden,
I know you realize that has to be highly subjective. To the
statisticians, a bicycle is a bicycle, whether it's ridden by a
gonzo BMXer doing street-style, a hell-bent-for-leather downhill
mountain biker, a 5-y.o. kid bursting out of a driveway that's
obscured by parked cars, a DUI doing yet another non-recommendable
beer run, a newbie messenger out to prove himself, or whomever.

Maybe people are just becoming more savvy.
That would be nice.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca