Friday, 7 December 2012

Researchers Say Cycling Risks Overstated


Yay!

Finally an article that doesn't equate cycling with certain death. It reports on research done by a team from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London. The research even recognizes what I've argued on occasion - that motorists' tendency to use freeways skews the data in their favor.
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7 comments:

  1. Khal7 December 2012 at 13:34

    Thanks for the heads up on that story, Ian

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  2. Gary7 December 2012 at 23:04

    Ian, are British cyclists are as untrained and uneducated as those in the U.S.? I ask because if they are, imagine how much safer cycling would be with some basic bicycle driver education.

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    Replies
    1. Ian Brett Cooper12 January 2013 at 13:42

      British cyclists are not quite as untrained as those in the US - Britain has had a system of cycling proficiency for a few decades. The National Cycling Proficiency Scheme was introduced by the Government in 1958 - it's now called 'Bikeability' - and offers school children lessons, but it is by no means ubiquitous: as I understand it, schools sign up for it and it is offered to students who volunteer to learn. It's basically like the LAB courses in the US. Although the system was around when I was in school, I never even heard of it.

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    2. Ian Brett Cooper12 January 2013 at 14:21

      Oops. I guess I've answered this three times now. LOL.

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  3. Gary7 December 2012 at 23:05

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. Ian Brett Cooper8 December 2012 at 02:41

    British schools do have cyclist education, but when I was a kid, I missed out on it because it wasn't at every school - it was purely voluntary. Not sure how it is nowadays - I suspect it's more common, but by no means ubiquitous. I'm sure a much larger percentage of British kids than American kids get some integrated cycling education. Of course, that's not hard to accomplish, since there appears to be no cycling education whatsoever for US kids.

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  5. Ian Brett Cooper8 December 2012 at 02:45

    The British cycling program is called 'Bikeability'. From what I understand, it's much like the Cycling Savvy or LAB cycling course, but it's aimed squarely at kids.

    http://www.dft.gov.uk/bikeability/

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