The More People Bike the Safer It Gets
- Posted by: Andrew Price
- on June 8, 2009 at 4:46 pm
That, at least, appears to be the lesson of this chart, which shows the increasing number of bike riders and declining number of bike-related accidents in New York City since 1998.
This trend is due in part to New York’s aggressive and smart Bicycle Network Development Program—begun in the mid-1990s—which expanded bike access on greenways and established a number of new on-street biking routes chosen, in part, for their low conflict with “existing modes of transportation.” This map from their 1997 bicycle master plan shows what they had in mind at the time.
But, as Ben Fried and Matt Yglesias point out, there’s also a “safety in numbers” effect. As more people bike, everyone (especially motorists) gets used to accommodating them on the streets, and cycling gets safer.
DISCUSSION: 5 Comments
Hypothesis: It looks like the more bike riders are on the road, the more visible they become.The more visible bike riders become, the more motorists, pedestrians, and other bike riders become aware of them.Adding public facilities for bike riders helps, too. These facilities are rare in many communities.
Well, it looks like casualties have been decreasing at a steady rate, even when bike ridership was relatively static (1998 – 2002, e.g.). Not to mention the greatest jump in ridership is associated with the least amount of decrease in casualties (2003 – 2007, hardly any change).Not that I wouldn’t love this statistic to be true, but it seems like there are other things at work.
I’m glad there are less accidents in NYC. But my main concern is that the majority of NYC bikers still DO NOT wear helmets. According to this report “between 1996-2005 nearly all bicyclists who died (97%) were not wearing a helmet. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/episrv/episrv-bike-report.pdf
The hipsters seem to be the worst offenders, particularly the women. fyi -who cares if a helmet doesn’t look “cool” with your vintage bike and TopShop dress! Being alive is a whole lot cooler!!
Indeed, I live, drive, and bicycle in Portland, OR and I too get annoyed with the hipsters that are too cool for helmets. It’s one thing if you’re on a pedestrian path that cars do not have access to – but quite another on the street.I hope that my helmet, gloves, and other accessories make me look like a more serious cyclist, which in turn will give me more respect from drivers who will then not hit me.I admit that I’ll cruise through stop signs when no one is around, but when I’m around cars I follow the same rules as them. By doing this, I hope to modify driver opinion one person at a time as they see me following the same rules as them.
Once again, it needs to be explained that insisting on helmets makes things more dangerous – because there are less bikes on the road, and thus more likelihood of fatal collisions. Look at Denmark, for example. Injuries and deaths increase in places where helmet laws are implemented, at the same time as ridership goes down.It also needs to explained that the lightweight polystyrene shell you’re wearing actually provides very little protection in the event of an accident in real world conditions (just look into how they’re tested).