4 ms·

Yes, there are health benifits from the exercise and joy of riding a bike, but the negatives are pollution/lung issues and reasonably high likelihood of injury

Yes, there are health benifits from the exercise and joy of riding a bike, but the negatives are pollution/lung issues and reasonably high likelihood of injury or death compared to other forms of transport. Do you have anything to back that statement up with? Sounds like FUD to me.

brador 15y ago
Which part? seems commonsense that bike riding would be more dangerous than car driving...not everything needs a dataset when simple physics would suffice.
- mootothemax 15y ago
  Which part? seems commonsense that bike riding would be more dangerous than car driving...not everything needs a dataset when simple physics would suffice. This part: the negatives are pollution/lung issues This part: reasonably high likelihood of injury or death And this part: compared to other forms of transport From your latest comment, this part: seems commonsense that bike riding would be more dangerous than car driving And this part: simple physics And also in the context of: not everything needs a dataset when simple physics would suffice That would cover it for now.
  - matwood 15y ago
    Most of the answers boil down to depends where you live. When I lived in Denver there were tons of bike only trails, the air was usually great, and lots of people biked. Biking there was a way of life for many people. Where I live now, the air is great, but there are few if any bike lanes. Yet, I still see cyclists going down 2 lane roads with traffic going by them at 50MPH. An accident is bound to happen, and over the summer a cyclist was hit on one of the bridges. He flew off the bridge, and fell to his death. It is common sense that cycling on busy roads is more dangerous than driving a car on the same road.
    - cstross 15y ago
      The issue is not that bicycling is hazardous; the issue is that drivers are inattentive. Here in the UK, around 90% of road traffic accidents are attributable to driver error. We badly need to reach the era of self-driving cars, so that folks who'd rather be checking their email can do so without endangering the rest of us, and so that cyclists can ride the highways safely again (or at least as safely as they did prior to 1910 or thereabouts).
    - jrockway 15y ago
      The accident statistics do not back up your assertion. Most cyclists are injured when turning from the wrong lane or when using bike paths or sidewalks. When you're on the road with the rest of the vehicles, people pay attention to you because they have to check to be sure that a car is not where you are. (There are bad drivers, but you have better maneuverability and brakes than them.) Americans are taught at an early age to be afraid of riding their bikes on the street, but there is really nothing scary about it. And drivers aren't as bad as you think they are: when there is something in their path, they tend to steer around it.
- fgm2r 15y ago
  For example "pollution/lung issues". After reading http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/2170/is-pollution-a-problem-in-urban-cycling http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/2170/is-pollutio... I didn't think that it would be problematic.
  - brador 15y ago
    The cited doc doesn't take into account the deep breathing that bicyclists do, leading the pollutants deeper into the lungs. So yes, there may be more in the car, but I'd argue it's doing far more damage to the cyclist. The regular coughing fits many suffer (Similar to smokers) attest to that.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
    - jrockway 15y ago
      I don't know any cyclists that suffer from regular coughing fits, and I ride more than 100 miles a week (and have mild asthma that I take medication for). Even if there is an increased contact with pollutants, which is debatable, it's not certain that this causes any adverse health effects. Evidence also suggests that the health you gain from regular physical activity offsets any potential damage from breathing pollutants. Most people die of heart disease long before they get the cancer that the pollutants supposedly cause. You will die one day even if you live in a cleanroom. Why not get some exercise before you do?
- mikeash 15y ago
  I've noticed that people who back their arguments up with "common sense" are usually wrong.

brador 15y ago

Which part? seems commonsense that bike riding would be more dangerous than car driving...not everything needs a dataset when simple physics would suffice.

mootothemax 15y ago
Which part? seems commonsense that bike riding would be more dangerous than car driving...not everything needs a dataset when simple physics would suffice. This part: the negatives are pollution/lung issues This part: reasonably high likelihood of injury or death And this part: compared to other forms of transport From your latest comment, this part: seems commonsense that bike riding would be more dangerous than car driving And this part: simple physics And also in the context of: not everything needs a dataset when simple physics would suffice That would cover it for now.
- matwood 15y ago
  Most of the answers boil down to depends where you live. When I lived in Denver there were tons of bike only trails, the air was usually great, and lots of people biked. Biking there was a way of life for many people. Where I live now, the air is great, but there are few if any bike lanes. Yet, I still see cyclists going down 2 lane roads with traffic going by them at 50MPH. An accident is bound to happen, and over the summer a cyclist was hit on one of the bridges. He flew off the bridge, and fell to his death. It is common sense that cycling on busy roads is more dangerous than driving a car on the same road.
  - cstross 15y ago
    The issue is not that bicycling is hazardous; the issue is that drivers are inattentive. Here in the UK, around 90% of road traffic accidents are attributable to driver error. We badly need to reach the era of self-driving cars, so that folks who'd rather be checking their email can do so without endangering the rest of us, and so that cyclists can ride the highways safely again (or at least as safely as they did prior to 1910 or thereabouts).
  - jrockway 15y ago
    The accident statistics do not back up your assertion. Most cyclists are injured when turning from the wrong lane or when using bike paths or sidewalks. When you're on the road with the rest of the vehicles, people pay attention to you because they have to check to be sure that a car is not where you are. (There are bad drivers, but you have better maneuverability and brakes than them.) Americans are taught at an early age to be afraid of riding their bikes on the street, but there is really nothing scary about it. And drivers aren't as bad as you think they are: when there is something in their path, they tend to steer around it.
fgm2r 15y ago
For example "pollution/lung issues". After reading http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/2170/is-pollution-a-problem-in-urban-cycling http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/2170/is-pollutio... I didn't think that it would be problematic.
- brador 15y ago
  The cited doc doesn't take into account the deep breathing that bicyclists do, leading the pollutants deeper into the lungs. So yes, there may be more in the car, but I'd argue it's doing far more damage to the cyclist. The regular coughing fits many suffer (Similar to smokers) attest to that.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - jrockway 15y ago
    I don't know any cyclists that suffer from regular coughing fits, and I ride more than 100 miles a week (and have mild asthma that I take medication for). Even if there is an increased contact with pollutants, which is debatable, it's not certain that this causes any adverse health effects. Evidence also suggests that the health you gain from regular physical activity offsets any potential damage from breathing pollutants. Most people die of heart disease long before they get the cancer that the pollutants supposedly cause. You will die one day even if you live in a cleanroom. Why not get some exercise before you do?
mikeash 15y ago
I've noticed that people who back their arguments up with "common sense" are usually wrong.