Cycling - Bicycle Safety

Bicycle Safety

Cycling suffers from a perception that it is unsafe although use of appropriate safety equipment and observance of road rules can reduce risk of serious injury. In the UK, fatality rates per mile or kilometre are slightly less than those for walking. In the US, bicycling fatality rates are less than 2/3 of those walking the same distance. The fatality and serious injury rates per hour of travel are just over double for cycling than for walking (owing to the reduced travel time), in the UK. It should be noted that calculated fatality rates based on distance for bicycling (as well as for walking) can have an exceptionally large margin of error, since there are generally no annual registrations or odometers required for bicycles (as there are with motor vehicles), and this means the distance traveled must be estimated.

Despite the risk factors associated with bicycling, cyclist have a lower overall mortality rate when compared to other groups. A Danish study in 2000 found that even after adjustment for other risk factors, including leisure time physical activity, those who did not cycle to work experienced a 39% higher mortality rate than those who did.

Injuries (to cyclists, from cycling) can be divided into two types:

• Physical trauma (extrinsic)
• Overuse (intrinsic).