Interesting idea for a thread posting.
For me the worst article is:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/06/13/bicycling-the-safest-form-of-transportation/Now I love to bike and have the bike trailer, but the math in this article is shady and shaky (ussually MMMs' math is accurate and usually I fully agree with it, pretty much, all except this article):
He starts off by stating according to the stats:
we end up with a cycling fatality rate of about 6.9 per 100 million miles ... that same statistic is 1.11 for cars in 2010.
So on the surface, it looks like cycling in the US is about 6.2 times more dangerous than car-driving per mile ... But we’re not done yet. First of all, let’s compare a cyclist at a comfortable commuting pace of 12MPH, with a car driver on the interstate at 75MPH. Now, the risk per hour is equal, because the car is covering 6.2 times more miles than the cyclist. So the accident risk per hour of the two activities is roughly equal.
If we stop here, this is a bizarre comparison, if we are comparing commuting by car and bike (which is probably what most driving is used for), the entire commute is not going to be 75 mph on an interstate (and if that is your commute, there is no way your are biking that commute in any realistic amount of time).
Most car travel happens in town or commuting at around probably 25-35 mph, not 75 mph (unless it is for travel between cities, which again is probably one of the only trips you cannot bike). Town car driving is way more boring with lots of your time sitting still at stop lights, and in heavy traffic.
If take 72 mph (car) / 12 mph (bike) = 6.0. This is ratio more distance traveled for the car over the bike.
Thus, to get his statement of the risk being equal, he has to get the distance ratio to be roughly 6 or 6.2 (to counter act the stats of the bike being 6.2 times more risky than the car per mile).
So basically, if we consider the comparison of the car going anything less than 75 mph for comparison, the ratio of car to bike distance traveled drop below 6.0. If we assume that car going slower like a more realistic 25-35 mph, then, the car is actually safer (at least twice as safe). Please keep in mind that I love to bike and do it all the time and wish more people would to, but this article is BS, because it appears that the conclusion for the article was written before the stats were even looked at. Pushing bogus interpretations of statistics to convince people to bike is total BS.
Instead, you can help them get over their safety concerns with biking in more constructive ways. Like encouraging them to take it in small steps, i.e. start with the easier small trips first and work your way up over time. Also you could show them how to use Google maps and satellite images to carefully plan their route ahead of time. For example, to find low traffic volume, low speed roads to bike on (i.e. sleepy neighborhood streets and alleys are two of my favorites). If there is a particularly bad/busy intersection that cannot be avoided, in some instances, I will actually dismount, and walk the bike on the sidewalk and push the button for the crosswalk and cross it as a pedestrian if need be.
