Accidents and helmets !
Interesting questions and replies from UK National Cyclist Associations
I am not suggesting that their arguments are all correct. But read with an open mind, it helps...
1: “Cycling is dangerous. So many cyclists get knocked off by cars that you would have to be crazy to risk it.”
Not cycling is actually more dangerous than cycling. The health benefits of cycling far outweigh the risks. Heart disease and obesity are two of the biggest killers in Britain. One third of people in the UK die from illnesses related to physical inactivity. Yet, there is one fatality for every 32 million kilometres cycled.
4: “I’d like to cycle, but I don’t like wearing a helmet and I’m worried about getting hurt if I don’t wear one.”
Cycle helmets do not prevent injury in all circumstances, and they certainly won’t protect you from bad drivers, which are the root of the problem in the first place. The focus on helmet wearing detracts from the real issue – bad driving.
Cycle helmet standards only require that they withstand an impact of 20 km/h (12.5 mph). This is the sort of impact that would occur if you fell off a bike all by yourself, something that children are much more likely to do than adults. Helmets are not designed to protect against the sort of impact that would occur if you were hit by a moving vehicle.
Unfortunately, in the UK much of the debate about the efficacy of helmet-wearing seems to end up eventually at questions about whether helmet wearing should be made compulsory. CTC believes that it is absolutely the choice of the individual whether or not to wear a helmet. Compulsion laws in other countries have always reduced the number of cyclists, without reducing the number of cyclists injured. Helmet compulsion leads to fewer people cycling, and more risk for the remaining cyclists.
An another extract from another cycling site...
Cities with a higher density (%) of people cycling have lower mortality rates. For example, in 1994, London had 19 fatal cycling accidents. In 2007, the number of cycle journeys had increased 91%, yet, fatalities fell to 16. This is a small sample, but, it suggests that as more people cycle, motorists adjust their behaviour to compensate for the increase in number of cyclists.
Some Basic Cycling Statistics
Risk Decreases the More People Cycle.
http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/cycling/how-dangerous-is-cycling/
There you go, the more cyclists on the road the safer it is, what an irony. So our motto of 'The more the merrier' is the right call??
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It is as simple as in nature, a giant shoal of itiny fishes will appear like a huge gigantic single fish and opponents took notice. I like best is the comment that bad drivers will attenuate their behaviour to cater to cyclists when there are more of us on the road.