I think it may be useful to also display data on people killed driving in London. The problem with these maps is they give the false impression that cycling is somehow quite dangerous when really in comparison to driving cars/motorbikes it's not at all.
You have a point. I feel a little bit uneasy about the big message this data give, as I discussed in my initial blog post on the data: (
http://cycling-intel...angerous-is-it/):
I was hesitating to publish this information. On the one hand, this kind of transparency puts pressure on politicians to improve cycling safety. They also might help cyclists to avoid accident hot spots. ( I’ve personally learned a number of lessons. I’m going to write about them later on.)
On the other hand, this kind of information easily available in one place might fuel the notion that cycling is too dangerous. I don’t want to do the same kind of fear mongering that I’ve just recently criticised.
However, a comparison of the absolute number of car passengers and cyclists would be misleading. In a given year, the number killed car passengers is - recalled from memory - about 5 times bigger than the number of killed cyclists.
However, according to TfL figures only 2% of all daily trips in London are made on a bicycle, while 37% are conducted by "private transport" (i.e. cars).
Hence, unfortunately, the mortality risk of cyclists IS much bigger than that of car passengers.
On the other hand, in absolute terms, the probability to have a fatal cycling accident in London is - fortunately - very, very low: in the long-term average (1986-2010), 17.2 cyclists die each year, but we have 500.000 bicycle trips PER DAY in London.
