good news. a study out of the university of new south wales finds that the more bicyclist on the road, the fewer crashes there are with automobiles. in a bit of sensationalistic journalism, they marked this finding as a paradox, since more cyclists should mean more crashes.
how obviously not.
of course, the more you see cyclists on the road, the more aware of them you are going to be, and the more aware you are, the less likely it is that an accident will happen.
i see the awareness effect each spring. i ride a motorcycle, and nobody has seen one for several months (in minnesota, anyway), and it's then that i need to be extra extra careful (as opposed to just extra careful the rest of the year), because motorists just aren't used to looking for bikes. there just isn't any thought that there might be a 2-wheeled vehicle in the vicinity. but on the up side, as people remember that motorcycles exist, they exhibit much better road-sharing tendencies. i feel pretty comfortable on the road this time of year.
so the obvious conclusion we can draw is that we all need to get out there and ride! don't just do group rides on rural roads to nowhere - bike to the grocery store; bike to the farmer's market; bike to the coffee shop. numbers mean more awareness and more respect and more safety for everyone.
two wheels good!
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