cyclist deaths

[Bicycle]

I believe it was Harold Wilson who said many years ago in a discussion on rising unemployment that when you yourself are unemployed, unemployment is 100%.

I thought (and think) that that was a very perceptive statement.

I'm afraid it's how I see road deaths, although that cheapens Wilson's notion:

While I'm alive, road deaths are 0%.

If I'm killed they are 100%.

Everything else is just a (very tragic) number.

 

[apollo179]

According to Jon Snow's report there has been a 1.5% increase in "cyclists", I do not know if they mean journeys or mileage or actual cyclists. He was highlighting the fact that the percentage increase in cyclists deaths was the opposite to other other road users.

In the channel 4 jon snow report the cyclists interviewed blamed cyclists themselves for not cycling carefully enough.
Lorries turning left over cyclists was highlighted as a major danger - the programme suggested training for cyclists to educate them of the dangers of cycling up along the inside of lorries and the associated dangers. The programme also praised the use of cyclist detection equipment on lorries prone to having blind spots.
Whatever - ultimately its up to us cyclists to keep out of danger.

 

[HLaB]

The Department of Transport figures for 2010 show that there is an increase of 7% of cyclist deaths on Britain's roads from 2009. 111 cyclists were killed in 2010, it may not sound much but it is a tragedy for 111 families.
Traffic accidents dropped by 16% over 2009, although 1857 people were killed in traffic accidents.
22660 people were killed or seriously injured on UK roads in 2010, an 8% drop from 2009.
Road deaths have hit their lowest levels since records began in 1926.
Motorbikes account for 20% of deaths on UK roads.
So if you are a cyclist and a biker, be careful out there!
Two wheels give you no protection against anything on the road.

Whilst it sounds tragic nothing will be done until three years of statistics point that way; hopefully it just a statistical blip. Over the longer term the benefits of regular cycling healthwise alone still outweigh the negative by a factor of 20 to 1.

 

[Davidc]

If all drivers practised the defensive driving I was taught years ago road casualties in general would fall dramatically.

If all cyclists followed the same principles cyclist road casualties would drop substantially.

If road law was adequately enforced, with appropriate penalties replacing the present pathetic ones then road casualties would fall dramatically.

None of these things is going to happen - at least not in the short term.

On the other hand the death figures, even with the increase, are well under half those we had 40 or 50 years ago, and that's a very good thing. The same applies to other road deaths, and that's also a good thing. I haven't seen the latest figures but earlier ones also shoowed that over time serious injuries for all classes of road users have dropped as well.

The number of people killed or seriously injured on roads is far too high, but the utopian vision of there being none won't happen. All we can hope for is a slow improvement, led by a change in the attitude to road casualties.

In the meantime all we can do is, as apollo179 has said, do all we can to keep ourselves out of danger.

 

[Red Light]

I believe it was Harold Wilson who said many years ago in a discussion on rising unemployment that when you yourself are unemployed, unemployment is 100%.

I thought (and think) that that was a very perceptive statement.

I'm afraid it's how I see road deaths, although that cheapens Wilson's notion:

While I'm alive, road deaths are 0%.

If I'm killed they are 100%.

Everything else is just a (very tragic) number.

Well you can apply that to just about anything from eating (remember George Bush and his pretzels?) to going swimming. There are over 16,000 choking cases a year treated in hospital with about 250 deaths so better just eat soup from now on Bicycle. There are 450 drowning deaths a year so stay clear of any water and maybe that soups not so safe after all. But the one thing you can be 100% certain of is you will die sooner or later