Is it safe to cycle on UK roads? - interested in people's opinions

Herzlos

Deleted_User said:

 If your life is so badly organised that 30s behind a bike will cause problems, sort your life out and let people ride safely

What people seem to miss, is that if you're being held up by 30 seconds by a cyclist, that means you're going to get more or less 30 seconds of clear road after them to catch up. There may be the odd car turning out of a junction who'll get ahead of you, but on a clear bit of country road you can crawl behind a bike for 30 seconds and still get to your destination (or the next obstacle) at the same time, give or take a couple of seconds.

I get that driving really slow for 30 seconds is boring, but it doesn't actually have any significant impact on journey time.

I'm always amused when people overtake me (on the bike or in the car) and then I catch up with them anyway.

Nebulous2

I've just found this thread. Cycling - like a lot of road use is much safer than it was. There are far fewer people killed on the roads in all forms of transport than there were in the 1970s for instance. Yet we've persuaded ourselves that it is too dangerous to cycle, for us and our children, just as we've persuaded ourselves it is unsafe to let our children out to play. 

I did a presentation at work once on the difference between risk and perceived risk. Driving is much more dangerous than flying, which is the safest form of transport, yet many people are terrified of flying. 

Some of the figures were fascinating. By some measures it is safer to cycle than to be a pedestrian. (Deaths per billion miles travelled) We don't make pedestrians wear helmets though.

Figures are slightly old now, but accidental deaths in England and Wales for 2011 

All accidents: 11390  
Cyclists killed in traffic accidents 98 
Pedestrians killed in traffic accidents 365
Falls on stairs 693 
Accidental alcohol poisoning 381
Accidental poisoning 1993 
Transport accidents 1815

How many of us give a second thought to many of these activities? Going downstairs in the morning may be one of the riskiest things we do in a day.... 

NBLondon

Nebulous2 said:

I did a presentation at work once on the difference between risk and perceived risk. Driving is much more dangerous than flying, which is the safest form of transport, yet many people are terrified of flying. 

Remember that risk is a combination of likelihood of something happening and impact of that happening.   People are more scared of flying than driving for a number of reasons - but for many it's the idea that a plane crash is more likely to be fatal than a traffic accident  even though the risk is lower because it's far less likely. 

Brie

Nebulous2 said:

How many of us give a second thought to many of these activities? Going downstairs in the morning may be one of the riskiest things we do in a day.... 

And apparently world wide 10 people die every year when they are electrocuted turning off their alarm on their clock radio.  

Johnmcl7

Nebulous2 said:

I've just found this thread. Cycling - like a lot of road use is much safer than it was. There are far fewer people killed on the roads in all forms of transport than there were in the 1970s for instance. Yet we've persuaded ourselves that it is too dangerous to cycle, for us and our children, just as we've persuaded ourselves it is unsafe to let our children out to play. 

I think the media have a lot to answer for here as in general cycling is portrayed negatively or this cars vs cyclists making out cycling to be much more dangerous than it is.  This topic is a good example as I find it alarming someone who is a cyclist is that concerned from watching a program that they're put off cycling, I'm not blaming the OP here but the program.

There seems to rarely be any general media on the positives of cycling and the huge benefits it offers.  I started cycling properly back in 2011 simply because I needed to travel a short distance daily and quickly to give my puppy his lunch and my diesel car wasn't suited for this.  At the time I thought cycling would be a hassle but worth it to save money on the car however it's been such an amazing benefit getting into cycling I'm so glad I did.  With cycling the focus is often on fitness and there's certainly large benefits there but mainly for me it's the mental benefits especially during rough times over the last couple of years being able to get out on the bike hugely improves my mood.  I've made many great friends through cycling and had many amazing experiences I wouldn't have done without the bike.  

I do get annoyed at times with bad drivers and I have had some near misses over the years but never any worse than that nor made me reconsider carrying on cycling, I've also had some pretty scary near misses with the car and other bad drivers.