Bicycling Safety in a Nutshell

Bicycle Safety in a Nutshell.

One of the common concerns people raise is about bicycle safety. For various reasons, a lot of people think biking is “unsafe”. It is true that accidents happen, and people debate a lot about how to interpret the accident statistics. I’ve read a lot of these sites and arguments, and I think they can be boiled down to two simple messages.

1.

Sitting on your rear end is more dangerous than biking.

Heart disease is the number one killer; regular exercise through activities like biking has a major impact on reducing it and many other diseases including diabetes, cancer, and more. According to research in

, the reduction in heart attacks from regular biking significantly outweighs the risks of the biking activity itself. And besides, per mile travelled,

.

2.

What’s more, bike accidents can be drastically reduced by realizing a few simple facts:

• Riding on sidewalks is one of the riskiest places to bike and one of the major causes of bike accidents. Cars are not looking for bikes as they pull out of driveways or at intersections.

• Riding at night without lights is another major cause of bike accidents. Riding intoxicated at night without lights is just plain stupid.

• Riding the wrong way against traffic is another major cause of accidents.

• And, running stop signs is another sure-fire way to increase the odds of getting clocked by a car.

Then there are the people who do all these things and more – I see them occasionally around, weaving in and out of traffic, running lights, riding on the sidewalk. Sadly, they don’t realize how much danger they are putting themselves in. They are the folks responsible for the majority of all bike accidents.

It is simple:

two-thirds

of all bike accidents are a result of these kinds of

changeable

behaviors. That’s right, if the biking populace followed a few simple guidelines, it would

And that, combined with the savings in health by getting regular exercise biking, adds up to a simple equation. Biking is a safe activity if done properly, compared to sitting on your rear end in the car.

For more great information on this subject, check out

, and in particular, his piece on “

”