From Newsgroup: rec.bicycles.tech
On 7/5/2025 4:21 PM, cyclintom wrote:
On Fri Jul 4 23:10:41 2025 Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 7/4/2025 2:56 PM, cyclintom wrote:
On Sun Jun 29 20:05:33 2025 Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/29/2025 3:57 PM, cyclintom wrote:
I was a member of two cycling clubs that hade about 40 members total. >>>> Only the members of the slow group (beginners and naturally slow riders) >>>> did NOT have a serious injury over the years.
Some things are so much in conflict with all available data that they
are literally unbelievable.
Yes, some people are seriously injured while bicycling. But all the data >>>> I'm aware of tells us that such _serious_ injuries are rare. The study I >>>> just referenced here pointed out that almost all bicycling injuries
reported were "level 1" or mild injuries.
Last I looked, the most common bicycling injuries treated in ER were
abrasions of the lower limbs, i.e. road rash. Second was abrasions of
the upper limbs.
Frank, please stop with your continuous cry of how safe cycling is. Yes it is SAFE but only to a point which you deny. There are some 130,000 injuries that call of hospitalizations every year. A large percentage of these would be prevented by the simple act of wearing a helmet and you deny that.
Tom, I'm giving data from reputable sources. See
"Active Living and Injury Risk" by Parkkari, in the International
Journal of Sports Medicine.
<http://bionics.seas.ucla.edu/education/Rowing/Injury_2004_01.pdf>
Why are you exaggerating the dangers of bicycling? Why are you
exaggerating the need for, and benefits of, bike helmets?
What are your data sources?
Frank, nor only have I given you solid statistical sources many times in the past, but I am one of the people that developed the sources muself.
So what are your data sources? I don't recall you giving many "solid statisticsl sources" except for your one online article summarizing bike
vs. pedestrian fatality data.
<
https://www.vehicularcyclist.com/kunich.html>
Your main point there was that the helmets you are now touting had no discernible affect on cyclist fatalities. And although you didn't
emphasize it, the data you referenced showed that there are roughly
seven pedestrian fatalities for every cyclist fatality. Somehow you
neglected to call for pedestrian helmets.
Are you LIKELY to benefit from a helmet every day? No, but over your lifetime a helmet would be advantageous to you.
I've been a regular cyclist for roughly 70 years, and an avid adult
cyclist for over 50 years. In all that time, there was precisely one
time when a helmet may have reduced my pain a bit. And the helmet would certainly have needed replacement after my fall. But as it was, I got
up, straightened my bike and continued on my paper route, now more
careful about winter ice.
I am merely giving you the statistical evidence and what you do with it personally is your business. But I do not like you misstating the statistics for your own purposes,
What's misstated? Everything I said was either contained in the article
I cited,
<
http://bionics.seas.ucla.edu/education/Rowing/Injury_2004_01.pdf> or
derived directly from that data using simple math. I can help you with
the math, if needed.
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/bicycle-deaths/
As I've said, in America _all_ numbers are big. Rather than saying "Oh
my! 1377 bicycling deaths is a LOT!!" you should, logically, compare it
with other causes of death.
So here's a table of the top causes of death: <
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm>
Note that they totally eclipse the cyclist deaths.
Do you prefer to concentrate on accidental deaths? Fine. Check the
numbers here: <
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/all-injuries/preventable-death-overview/odds-of-dying/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=244859199>
Note that walking is nearly seven times as likely to kill you as is
cycling. Note that you're nearly 50% more likely to die by choking on
food than by riding a bike.
While a large portion of those half million injuries are largely to newcomers, a significant portion are to experienced riders. Today on our ride, I was crossing the street with right of way and an Audi driver pulled through his yield sign and came within bar inches of hitting me.
You poor boy! Almost the same thing happened to me yesterday, in a
nearby large city - but I was driving. I arrived at my friends' home a
bit rattled after a roughly one foot miss of a head-on crash. And I see
car crashes are roughly 30 times more likely to kill you than are bike crashes. Somehow, somehow I summoned the courage to drive home later
that night.
TLDR? You're complaining about what you say is a near miss. But it was a
miss. You were uninjured. Man up.
I am giving you real life evidence that no matter HOW careful a rider you are, you can still be injured by circumstances entirely beyond your control.
Which is also true of motoring, motorcycling, walking, jogging, and many dozens of other activities.
(Do you still ride a motorcycle? I do, even though the fatality per hour
rate is over 30 times that of bicycling.)
--
- Frank Krygowski
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2