Bike | September 05, 2008 | 11 comments

Pedestrians and cyclists more likely to die in US than in Germany or Netherlands

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stopnoise
"Objectives: we examined the public health consequences of unsafe and inconvenient walking and bicycling conditions in American cities to suggest improvements based on successful policies in The Netherlands and Germany.

Methods: secondary data from national travel and crash surveys were used to compute fatality trends from 1975 to 2001 and fatality and injury rates for pedestrians and cyclists in The Netherlands, Germany, and the United States in 2000.

Results: American pedestrians and cyclists were much more likely to be killed or injured than were Dutch and German pedestrians and cyclists, both on a per-trip and on a per-kilometer basis.

Conclusions: a wide range of measures are available to improve the safety of walking and cycling in American cities, both to reduce fatalities and injuries and to encourage walking and cycling.

Introduction: improving conditions for walking and bicycling in our cities is vital for America's public health. The measures described in this article would not only reduce pedestrian and cycling fatalities and injuries but also allow millions of people, many of them dangerously overweight, to bike or walk for some of their short trips and thus obtain healthful exercise in the course of daily life. More walking and cycling would yield further public health benefits by reducing the use of automobiles, thus diminishing air and noise pollution and the overall level of traffic danger.

This article has a total of 6 pages with reputable research and safety tips:

Introduction
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/461679_1

Data and Methods
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/461679_2

Variation Among Countries in Levels of Walking and Cycling
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/461679_3

Dangers of Walking and Cycling in the United States
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/461679_4

How to Make Walking and Cycling Safer
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/461679_5

Conclusions
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/461679_6

Photo source http://www.pedbikeimages.org/imageDetail.cfm (location Long Beach, CA/photographer Dan Burden).

Article by John Pucher, PhD, Lewis Dijkstra, PhD.
  1. groups:
    Bike
  2. tags:
    US,  Research,  Safety,  Cycling,  4 more
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11 comments // Pedestrians and cyclists more likely to die in US than in Germany or Netherlands

  • MrBigShot21
  • meligrosa
  • locomotive
    • 0
      locomotive  

    • That Americans are ‘independent’ is a Politically Correct notion fostered in our Popular Culture by Corporate Propagandists. This is especially the case when presented in a context as relating to Europeans who by-and-large think independently—while Americans tend not to think very much at all.

    • 3 years ago
  • chaostoast
    • 0
      chaostoast  

    • I walk every day. I have noticed that most drivers do not look at anything other than traffic. They have a tendency to check one direction for oncoming traffic and never look the other way to see if anything or anyone is on the other side. If I did not keep alert and pay attention I would have been killed many times by now...

    • 3 years ago
  • regjoeschmo
  • rasting
  • locomotive
    • 0
      locomotive  
    • rasting:

      That Americans are ‘independent’ is a Politically Correct notion fostered in our Popular Culture by Corporate Propagandists. This is especially the case when presented in a context as relating to Europeans who by-and-large think independently—while Americans tend not to think very much at all.

    • 3 years ago
  • LindseyIndigo
    • 0
      LindseyIndigo  

    • Eek, this is one of those news stories that really needs cutting down and clarifiying methinks. I can't take that much cut and paste, especially when it doesn't make it clear what the news angle actually is!

      Tis a sensible topic to raise though - I know three people in the last 5 years who've been killed by vehicles while cycling, and many countries are way ahead of the UK and US on providing safe routes for bike users.

    • 3 years ago
  • stopnoise
    • 0
      stopnoise  
    • LindseyIndigo:

      My sentiments to you in regards to your friends accident and death. I raised the topic because there is a great lack of education in the area and because the article it is followed by one of the most comprehensive research on the subject. I found it very useful specially in the last part where they presented some solutions to the problem.

    • 3 years ago
  • damnneargenius
    • 0
      damnneargenius  

    • That bike path in the picture is across the street from where I live in Long Beach. I guess the article and the picture are unrelated, cause if you manage to get killed on that bike path, you must have been smoking crack beforehand.

    • 3 years ago
  • MiguelSanchez
  • MoonLoon
  • stephenthomson
    • 0
      stephenthomson  

    • there should be bike paths like the one above made for people like me who are scared shitless of biking in the city!

      or at least a divider between car lanes and bike lanes.

    • 3 years ago
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