The statistics are pretty clear. Biking is not more dangerous than driving. Or, to put it another way: Driving may feel safer, but it is just as dangerous as biking.
False. Per mile travelled you are more likely to die on a bike (.039 fatalities per million miles) than in a car (.016 fatalities per million miles). The risk is 2.5 greater to die cycling (not factoring health benefits if you get no exercise otherwise).
You'd need to post a source for your statement and this topic has been exhaustively examine with posting of the stats here:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/i-will-not-be-biking-to-work/msg103110/#msg103110
You're correct if you count fatalities per mile. I'm correct if you count fatalities per hour of activity (actually, cycling is somewhat safer than driving).
COMPARATIVE RISK OF DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES
Estimates of Fatal Risk
fatalities
Activity per million hrs
-------- ---------------
Skydiving 128.71
General Aviation 15.58
On-road Motorcycling 8.80
Scuba Diving 1.98
Living (all causes of death) 1.53
Swimming 1.07
Snowmobiling .88
Passenger cars .47
Water skiing .28
Bicycling .26
Flying (scheduled domestic airlines) .15
Hunting .08
Cosmic Radiation from transcontinental flights .035
Home Living (active) .027
Traveling in a School Bus .022
Passenger Car Post-collision fire .017
Home Living, active & passive (sleeping) .014
Residential Fire .003
Compiled by Failure Analysis Associates, Inc. (Design News, 10-4-93)
Failure Analysis Associates Inc, "Comparative Risk of Different Activities," Design News, October 4, 1993.
It's OK with me not to argue this over again. My point is that if someone finds cycling unpleasant or stressful, it's OK not to do it. But they shouldn't justify their choice by claiming that it's much too dangerous compared to other ordinary activities, or making phony arguments from physics.
You do realize you are quoting a 21-year old study with no link to source data that can be verified right? Why in the world would you not simply reference any of the more recent and voluminous studies on this matter carried out by verifiable methods? See here:
http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/almanac-safety.html You would find:
Risk of death from cycling compared to driving.
It is difficult to calculate accurately because we don't know the number of bicycle miles traveled in the U.S. annually, because the sources disagree so strongly:
150 billion
Consumer Product Safety Commission "Bicycle Study (PDF)" (doc. #344), 1991. States 67M cyclists riding 15B hours. Frankly, this figure is not very believable.
6 to 21 billion
U.S. Dept. of Trans. / Fed. Hwy Admin. "The Environmental Benefits of Bicycling and Walking", 1993
6.2 billion
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Household Travel Survey, 2001
So we'll compare risk at both the 6.2 billion and 21 billion miles traveled levels.
784 cyclists died in 2005 (p. 86). That would make the death rate 0.37 to 1.26 deaths per 10 million miles.
33,041 motorists/passengers died (p. 86) from 3 trillion miles traveled (p. 15), making their death rate 0.11 per 10 million miles traveled.
So cyclists are either 3.4x or 11.5x as likely to die as motorists, per passenger mile. U.S. cyclists are three more likely to be killed than German cyclists and six times more than Dutch cyclists, whether compared per-trip or per-distance traveled. (Reuters, Aug. 28, 2003, by Maggie Fox)
Cyclist fatalities occurred more frequently in urban areas (66%), at nonintersection locations (67%), between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. (30%), and during the months of June, July, and August (36%). (NHTSA, 2004)
89% of fatal bike crashes in NYC occurred at or within 25 feet of intersections. ("Bicyclist Fatalities and Serious Injuries in New York City", PDF, NYC government, 2005)
33% of cycling fatalies were at intersections. (Treehugger, 2009)
Most deaths on major roads. Fifty-seven percent of bicycle deaths in 1999 occurred on major roads, and 37 percent occurred on local roads. (6)
Streets with bike lanes have a significantly lower crash rate then either major or minor streets without any bicycle facilities (38 and 56% respectively). (William Moritz, 1998)
Texas leads cycling deaths. Texas ranks 14th in number of cyclist fatalities per capita. (5)
Four states lead cycling deaths. Four states (California, Florida, New York, and Texas) accounted for 43% of bicycle deaths in 1999. (6)
Injuries dwarf fatalities. 630 cyclists died in the U.S. in 2009, vs. 51,000 who were injured. (Treehugger, 2009)Risk of injury from cycling compared to driving. 45,000 cyclists vs. 2.4M motorists were injured in 2005, from traveling 6.2 billion milies and 1.6 M-M miles respectively, yielding 7.3 injuries per million miles for cyclists and 1.5 injuries per million miles traveled for motorists,
making cyclists 4.9 times more likely to be injured per mile of travel. NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts 2005 (PDF)
Testosterone kills. Male riders are seven times more likely to end up a fatality than a female cyclist, and four times more likely to be injured. (Treehugger, 2009)
Kinds of crashes. Falls account for 59% of all crashes, running into a fixed object 14%, moving motor vehicles were involved in 11%, and another bicycle in 9%. (Moritz, 1998)