Monday, September 8, 2008

A Virtuous Cycle: Safety In Numbers For Bicycle Riders

Scientific Research here, so please all you creationists and white wingers please don't read this. Go to the palin, mccinsane site for your info.


ScienceDaily (Sep. 7, 2008) — It seems paradoxical but the more people ride bicycles on our city streets, the less likely they are to be injured in traffic accidents.

International research reveals that as cycling participation increases, a cyclist is far less likely to collide with a motor vehicle or suffer injury and death - and what’s true for cyclists is true for pedestrians. And it’s not simply because there are fewer cars on the roads, but because motorists seem to change their behaviour and drive more safely when they see more cyclists and pedestrians around.

Studies in many countries have shown consistently that the number of motorists colliding with walkers or cyclists doesn’t increase equally with the number of people walking or bicycling. For example, a community that doubles its cycling numbers can expect a one-third drop in the per-cyclist frequency of a crash with a motor vehicle. read more here

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It also helps when cyclists follow the rules of the road.

clintpatty said...

What does the introduction add to this? There are plenty of right wing people who believe scientific research. There are some who perform it.

Gary Burkholder said...

Anon- it helps when EVERYONE follows the rules of the road. Why do you need to polarize issues like this?

And while I do agree with the humor of the McCain / Palin comment, it doesn't help to make fun of the other side when they're the ones that probably need to be influenced the most by reading the ScienceDaily article; particluarly, when it ofen seems that it's RNC base (the 'mad soccer / hockey moms in minivans', SUVs, pickup trucks, or the elderly) that tend to encroach on cyclists more often then other drivers do.

Bello Velo said...

thanks cyclonecross,
I couldn't agree more. Thanks for keeping it about the issues here. I know I should not joke about this but it beats screaming at the top of my lungs. I really do not have a problem with republicans to a degree, it is just the fact that there are so many of them here. Diversity is not really encouraged here but indoctrination is. Even the most liberal here are only against the war which does not take much since it is such a unpopular war.

What frightens me is how most younger and first time voters sound exactly like...... well Mccain.

I do need to be careful what I say because I don't want to get called out for not being a patriot or even worse not "loving" our constitution.

You are right on the money about the RNC base here also.

Anonymous said...

There is an interesting article over at alter net

Palin, Huckabee and the GOP's 'Hick Factor'
Why did the GOP choose a political neophyte to appeal to the religious right over a seasoned politico? Fried squirrels and economic populism.

http://www.alternet.org/election08/97769/palin%2C_huckabee_and_the_gop%27s_%27hick_factor%27/

clintpatty said...

Alternet is as left wing as Fox News is right wing. Keep that in mind when reading it.

Bello Velo said...

No not really clint, Fox is a mouth piece for the Bush White House. There is a big difference. It is on in almost every business in this town. I doubt there is too much reading going on down here.

BTW: did you even read the article or just call it a name?

clintpatty said...

How does the size of the audience reach mean that Fox News is farther right? How many they reach is not what they say. I would rather read Alternet, though. Being openly left wing is better than not being honest about being right wing and claiming to be fair and balanced in a sea of left wing media. And I've seen less total bull from Alternet than from Fox News. Or at least I call a lot of what Fox News said about evidence for starting the war in Iraq total bull, and that is part of their being a mouth piece like you said.

Gary Burkholder said...

Speaking of 'making fun of the other side', have a look at this BBC article and the reaction to it in this blog post over at pinchflatnews and a little discussion on my blog as well.