9 ms·

I wonder how many micromorts I'm exposing delivery people to each time they bring me a pizza on an e-bike. Wikipedia suggests about 1 micromort per 10 miles on

by tlb 7y ago

I wonder how many micromorts I'm exposing delivery people to each time they bring me a pizza on an e-bike. Wikipedia suggests about 1 micromort per 10 miles on a bike [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromort https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromort] so maybe it's 1/2 micromort in an urban area and 1 in the suburbs.

Nasrudith 7y ago
It might be net negative ironically - increased accidental death but exercise being good for their health compared to sitting there answering the phone or driving.
- baddox 7y ago
  It will also likely increase food costs for the delivery person, assuming they increase their energy expenditure and maintain body weight. Whether the increased food costs are made up for by decreasing other costs (namely car maintenance and fuel) is probably worth calculating.
esotericn 7y ago
I used to ride a bike for Deliveroo in the UK. It's quite gamified due to the per drop pricing and tips etc. I found it hard to not ride like a maniac. And I didn't even need the money, I did it because it seemed funny to basically get paid to exercise.
Rebelgecko 7y ago
I would take that with a grain of salt. Of the two micromort numbers on the wikipedia page, one is more dangerous than walking and one is less dangerous. I'd also suspect that someone who rides a bike for their job is likely likely than the average person to die in a crash. People that die in bike accidents are disproportionately not doing two things: 1. Wearing helmets 2. Being sober (20+% of adult cyclists that get killed are too drunk to legally drive a car [1], and "drunk cyclist sober/car driver" is actually a lot more common in fatal crashes than "drunk driver/sober cyclist" [2]) I don't want to victim blame, but there's relatively easy things you can do that drastically reduce your risk of dying on a bike. There's also some intangibles, like someone who rides all the time is going to be more familiar with safer routes (OTOH they may be encouraged to ride more recklessly to maximize profits?). Even with a pedal assist bike, I'd also imagine that the health benefits would partially offset that micromort. [1]: https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/bicyclists https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/bicyc... [2]: https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812507 https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/...
- esotericn 7y ago
  > they may be encouraged to ride more recklessly to maximize profits Having been a delivery driver, and well, just casually observing others - this is likely to be an enormous factor. Motorized scooters in particular seem to behave in frankly absurd ways, mounting the pavement at 15mph etc.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    Back when they were far more common, bike messengers in places like Manhattan were notorious for riding all over the place, including sidewalks, fast and recklessly.
    - esotericn 7y ago
      I mean, this is why lorries/trucks have tachometers and tightly regulated sleeping patterns etc. Because otherwise you'd have truckers banging it around at 130kmh for 10 hours at a time.
      - anonexpat 7y ago
        You'd be terrified to learn that many do this by doctoring their paperwork. At least in the United States.

by tlb 7y ago

Nasrudith 7y ago

It might be net negative ironically - increased accidental death but exercise being good for their health compared to sitting there answering the phone or driving.

baddox 7y ago
It will also likely increase food costs for the delivery person, assuming they increase their energy expenditure and maintain body weight. Whether the increased food costs are made up for by decreasing other costs (namely car maintenance and fuel) is probably worth calculating.

esotericn 7y ago

I used to ride a bike for Deliveroo in the UK. It's quite gamified due to the per drop pricing and tips etc. I found it hard to not ride like a maniac. And I didn't even need the money, I did it because it seemed funny to basically get paid to exercise.

Rebelgecko 7y ago

I would take that with a grain of salt. Of the two micromort numbers on the wikipedia page, one is more dangerous than walking and one is less dangerous. I'd also suspect that someone who rides a bike for their job is likely likely than the average person to die in a crash. People that die in bike accidents are disproportionately not doing two things: 1. Wearing helmets 2. Being sober (20+% of adult cyclists that get killed are too drunk to legally drive a car [1], and "drunk cyclist sober/car driver" is actually a lot more common in fatal crashes than "drunk driver/sober cyclist" [2]) I don't want to victim blame, but there's relatively easy things you can do that drastically reduce your risk of dying on a bike. There's also some intangibles, like someone who rides all the time is going to be more familiar with safer routes (OTOH they may be encouraged to ride more recklessly to maximize profits?). Even with a pedal assist bike, I'd also imagine that the health benefits would partially offset that micromort. [1]: https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/bicyclists https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/bicyc... [2]: https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812507 https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/...

esotericn 7y ago
> they may be encouraged to ride more recklessly to maximize profits Having been a delivery driver, and well, just casually observing others - this is likely to be an enormous factor. Motorized scooters in particular seem to behave in frankly absurd ways, mounting the pavement at 15mph etc.
- ghaff 7y ago
  Back when they were far more common, bike messengers in places like Manhattan were notorious for riding all over the place, including sidewalks, fast and recklessly.
  - esotericn 7y ago
    I mean, this is why lorries/trucks have tachometers and tightly regulated sleeping patterns etc. Because otherwise you'd have truckers banging it around at 130kmh for 10 hours at a time.
    - anonexpat 7y ago
      You'd be terrified to learn that many do this by doctoring their paperwork. At least in the United States.