More cities will have to consider cycling infrastructure if they want to have happy and healthy residents. We're finally seeing changes in major American cities and it's great!
> The number of cyclist deaths per 100 million kilometres cycled is 5.8
in the United States and 3.6 in the UK. In contrast, a cycling-happy country
like Germany has a rate of just 1.7 deaths; and in Denmark it's 1.5 – four
times safer than in the US and twice as safe as in the UK. And cycling is even
safer in the Netherlands, with just 1.1 deaths per 100 million kilometres on the
road. It appears that the more cycling is encouraged and taken up, the safer it
becomes[2]
This conclusion is specious and these statistics are misleading as they do not account for vehicle exposure. If you travel 1,000 kilometers on a bike and never pass a car, obviously you can't get killed by one. I'm aware of no studies that account for vehicle exposure. Anyone who has been to the countries with low cycle death rates will know that vehicle exposure is far less than is typical in any American city.
EDIT: I don't understand why I'm receiving so many downvotes for this comment... HN has gotten bad lately.
Also, the implications of GP, if true, seem to be obvious to me: reduce the number of cars on the road to make cycling safer. Seems like a win-win to me.
I think you're reading too much into the statement. "the more cycling is encouraged and taken up, the safer it becomes" doesn't read to me to be excluding infrastructure changes like you describe, and I think the author would agree that it can go the other way also (the safer it is due to infrastructure support, the more popular it becomes).
I will agree that the paragraph is set up strangely. "Fewer people on cycles, however, doesn’t mean fewer accidents" is an odd statement when you are measuring accidents on a per mileage basis.
No downvote from me, but couldn't it be argued that the more cycling is taken up, the likelihood is that fewer people would be driving so there'd naturally be less exposure? So then it would be true that the more cycling is taken up, the safer it becomes -- because there are fewer cars driving about.
As you mentioned, there's less vehicle exposure in countries where there are low cycle death rate -- lower car usage is presumably a big factor here, though well-designed road sharing and separate cycle paths etc. would presumably also help a lot. (Of course, people can be killed cycling in other ways than being hit by a car, but I'm guessing that's a small minority of cases -- would be interesting to see figures though.)
What you say is true, and another factor is that "there's safety in numbers" -- it's more dangerous when cyclists are rare, and drivers aren't expecting them. If there are crowds of cyclists everywhere, drivers will expect them, and are more likely to know how to deal with them and adapt their behavior accordingly...
I agree that what was said didn't really make logical sense. The writer was probably aware of studies where the environment stayed the same but things seemed to get safer with increased cycling. One theory for why that happens is that drivers learn to look harder when there are more bikes around.
It would of been better with a bland statement about "things shown by studies" followed by the statistics.
Yes, NY is one of the only places in the US where you're likely to consistently pay for the space your car takes up when it's at rest, which is awesome, and which other cities should emulate. Unfortunately, you still don't have congestion taxes to pay for the space you take up in motion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congestion_pricing_in_New_York...
Each state requires an annual registration fee which varies from state to state.
The state of New York, on the other hand, charges a tax based on the vehicle's weight, rather than on its value, which is charged at the time of registration renewal.
Sure, but if you drive your vehicle down the highway, you're taking up cheap real estate; if you drive your vehicle into Manhattan, you're using really freaking expensive real estate, and you should pay more for it.
So what you're saying is, even though it's ridiculously cold, they still found a way to reduce the number of cars on the road, and it was through more taxes on cars?
Yes they are, unless you're in your own bodily optimum. When you're around 30, sure you can show Amundsen-like effort. What happens when you turn 45? 55? 65? 75? People live that long now.
Anyway, you've never seen clear temperature extremes obviously.
> That's nice if you live in temperature optimum, but many places are too hot or too cold to cycle year round.
You'd probably be surprised. It does certainly take a bigger amount of dedication than I have, but David Beazley's been cycling through Chicago winters (until he cracked a rib earlier this month: https://twitter.com/dabeaz/status/570348015401050112 kept him off for almost a week: https://twitter.com/dabeaz/status/574891782498041857) as for too hot to ride, it's really a matter of good hydration (and physiology, some people can't handle heat at all, but that's cycling or not so they probably know themselves)
I'd say that it's also very much a matter of whether you have a shower near your place of work.
I would have to ride eight miles, about 45 minutes - which is pretty close to my current commute - but I'd arrive sweaty and in need of a change of clothes at minimum.
I have a commute of about the same length which I do by bike. You do have to change clothes, yes, but provided you wear deodorant, odor isn't likely to be an issue.
I was happy to be able to ride to work in Israel for about a year. Every single day (I think I skipped maybe 3-4 days due to not feeling well or bad weather, but I did use a bike on days where the Israeli streets were flooded so high, that my lower pedals were submerged at times).
Temperature was usually nice - even Winter's a joke and rarely reaches 0 - mostly it's about 8-10 degrees (C). Summer can reach 32, 34 degrees (C) and on those days even early morning rides are a bit taxing.
We had a shower in the office though. Little cabin. Takes ~no~ space. Since I've been there, I think that every office should have one.
I used to cycle in Dublin until I got knocked off my bike and constantly aggressed/verbally abused by taxis and busses. There just isn't space on the road for cyclists and motorists to go safely. Pity.
When I lived in Dublin I cycled to commute. Never had any issues real issues except for oblivious people pulling out in front of me or similar. YMMV I suppose.
At least in my experience, the Netherlands is by far the best country for cyclists.
Other European cities have inconsistent and often partially blocked bike lanes with people frequently riding on the sidewalk, but in Amsterdam you have clearly defined, reliable bike lanes everywhere. It reduces the amount of stress for everyone, including pedestrians.
I was in the Netherlands for 2 weeks and managed to almost get hit head on by a vehicle that pulled from the 2 lane road onto the separate bike path to overtake a vehicle on the right (on the main road through a village near Hilversum). Looking at imagery of the spot, there was at least 1 meter of separation between the road and path, and I was in the correct lane of the 2 way bike path.
I did quite a bit of other bike riding that all went fine and the amount of infrastructure devoted to it was great, but that incident sort of sticks in my head a bit.
As far as I understand, the vehicle had no legal right to be on the path.
"Our country is great for cycling as long as you understand the situations where a vehicle traveling at speed might enter the bike paths." is a little different than "Our country is great for cycling."
I wouldn't even try to argue that the first statement there is in any way fair, but I simply don't understand your response here.
I am not so sure : a bike path with a different color doesn't mean a vehicle is prohibited from entering it. It depends on the line separating the two ( solid vs intermittent ).
But please understand we are not afraid of our lives every day. Our children are trusted to take part of traffic on their own from about 10/12yo because we trained them about every day. It is about experience in watching eachother. Not about who is right.
(Naa.. I'm not seriously suggesting to hang bike thieves, although I have commented about that in the past and certainly wished that this would happen to the persons who stole all my bikes so far. Maybe "Twice as much as for copyright infringements" would be okay? German cinemas try hard to educate the paying customers that you might get up to 5 years in prison for these offenses. So .. what about 'up to 10 years for stealing a bike'?)
Glaring omission in the article: Traffic laws that protect the weaker participants in traffic.
I do 7000k a year commuting alone, but there will be certain places I will never cycle.
Contrast this onboard video from New Zealand showing a car hitting a cyclist and the police response [1], with a car right hooking 4 cyclists and causing a "bruised knee" in the Netherlands [2].
53 comments
[ 0.25 ms ] story [ 101 ms ] threadhttps://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/
http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/
This conclusion is specious and these statistics are misleading as they do not account for vehicle exposure. If you travel 1,000 kilometers on a bike and never pass a car, obviously you can't get killed by one. I'm aware of no studies that account for vehicle exposure. Anyone who has been to the countries with low cycle death rates will know that vehicle exposure is far less than is typical in any American city.
EDIT: I don't understand why I'm receiving so many downvotes for this comment... HN has gotten bad lately.
I will agree that the paragraph is set up strangely. "Fewer people on cycles, however, doesn’t mean fewer accidents" is an odd statement when you are measuring accidents on a per mileage basis.
As you mentioned, there's less vehicle exposure in countries where there are low cycle death rate -- lower car usage is presumably a big factor here, though well-designed road sharing and separate cycle paths etc. would presumably also help a lot. (Of course, people can be killed cycling in other ways than being hit by a car, but I'm guessing that's a small minority of cases -- would be interesting to see figures though.)
It would of been better with a bland statement about "things shown by studies" followed by the statistics.
'cept you have to get up early twice a week to move your car for street cleaning.
And it can take you an hour to find an empty spot sufficiently close to your apartment.
And on Sundays, many neighborhood spots are taken (and double-parked) by church-goers.
The state of New York, on the other hand, charges a tax based on the vehicle's weight, rather than on its value, which is charged at the time of registration renewal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_tax#United_States
I couldn't find the rates for Finland, Norway, Sweden or Denmark; presumably, I'd have to search using Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish terms.
edit: talking about Sweden's 4th largest city
(Some are also too large)
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/03/how-to-ride-your-b...
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/05/07/what-do-you-mean-y...
Anyway, you've never seen clear temperature extremes obviously.
You'd probably be surprised. It does certainly take a bigger amount of dedication than I have, but David Beazley's been cycling through Chicago winters (until he cracked a rib earlier this month: https://twitter.com/dabeaz/status/570348015401050112 kept him off for almost a week: https://twitter.com/dabeaz/status/574891782498041857) as for too hot to ride, it's really a matter of good hydration (and physiology, some people can't handle heat at all, but that's cycling or not so they probably know themselves)
I would have to ride eight miles, about 45 minutes - which is pretty close to my current commute - but I'd arrive sweaty and in need of a change of clothes at minimum.
Gonna have to join a nearby gym this spring.
Seriously: I sweat a lot. I might have to apply deodorant all over after riding, and that's definitely not healthy.
Temperature was usually nice - even Winter's a joke and rarely reaches 0 - mostly it's about 8-10 degrees (C). Summer can reach 32, 34 degrees (C) and on those days even early morning rides are a bit taxing.
We had a shower in the office though. Little cabin. Takes ~no~ space. Since I've been there, I think that every office should have one.
Yeah I'd agree with that.
What if I don't want to marry a bike, but I perhaps could ride one?
I already had wife that I'm dedicated to, and she ain't bike.
And this video isn't even crowded yet : during rush hour we have cross sections with 100+ cyclists per red-green-cycle.
Everybody just watches each other : pedestrians, cyclist and vehicles.
Other European cities have inconsistent and often partially blocked bike lanes with people frequently riding on the sidewalk, but in Amsterdam you have clearly defined, reliable bike lanes everywhere. It reduces the amount of stress for everyone, including pedestrians.
I did quite a bit of other bike riding that all went fine and the amount of infrastructure devoted to it was great, but that incident sort of sticks in my head a bit.
It sounds like the vehicle overtaking was a situation we would have recognized and adapted to ( the other vehicle probably was taking a left turn ).
"Our country is great for cycling as long as you understand the situations where a vehicle traveling at speed might enter the bike paths." is a little different than "Our country is great for cycling."
I wouldn't even try to argue that the first statement there is in any way fair, but I simply don't understand your response here.
But please understand we are not afraid of our lives every day. Our children are trusted to take part of traffic on their own from about 10/12yo because we trained them about every day. It is about experience in watching eachother. Not about who is right.
- Stealing a bike is a capital crime
- Capital crimes are .. punished as such
(Naa.. I'm not seriously suggesting to hang bike thieves, although I have commented about that in the past and certainly wished that this would happen to the persons who stole all my bikes so far. Maybe "Twice as much as for copyright infringements" would be okay? German cinemas try hard to educate the paying customers that you might get up to 5 years in prison for these offenses. So .. what about 'up to 10 years for stealing a bike'?)
I do 7000k a year commuting alone, but there will be certain places I will never cycle.
Contrast this onboard video from New Zealand showing a car hitting a cyclist and the police response [1], with a car right hooking 4 cyclists and causing a "bruised knee" in the Netherlands [2].
[1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEgXQIAyGF8
[2]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeJ-d86pKsw