sms writes:

On 6/3/2019 10:16 AM, jbeattie wrote:

snip

Without getting into the question of whether bicycle is safe or
safer than gardening, one can argue about the completeness of the
data -- at least in non-fatalities. And then one can argue about
what the data means.

What?! You want to base decisions on actual data. That's so
lawyer-like! Don't you know that using actual data is not acceptable
when it conflicts with an agenda?

It's so interesting when someone proclaims something that isn't true,
without any supporting data, then gets upset when others provide the
actual data. No one would think any worse of Frank if he simply
admitted his mistake.

"As cars have become safer for occupants (due to airbags, structural
crashworthiness and other improvements) the percent of pedestrian
fatalities as a percent of total motor vehicle fatalities steadily
increased from 11% in 2004 to 15% in 2014 according to NHTSA data."

It seems that from 2004 to 2014 total motor vehicle fatalities declined
from 14.59 per 100K population to 10.28 per 100K population, or almost
30%. So I don't see the evidence that Frank is wrong. It's entirely
possible for total pedestrian fatalities to decrease at the same time as
their proportion of total motor vehicle fatalities increases.

The trend in all motor vehicle fatalities over the past 20 years or so
is down, perhaps largely due to better emergency treatment. In the past
4-5 years there has been an uptick, which many attribute to cell phone
use. Standards for motor vehicle occupant protection have improved over
the same period, at some expense in outward visibility; one might
expect this to increase the proportion of "outside the vehicle"
fatalities.

Wikipedia has a nice collection of data:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_...n_U.S._by_year

"Inside Versus Outside the Vehicle
The proportion of people killed “inside the vehicle” (passenger car,
light truck, large truck, bus, and other vehicle occupants) declined
from a high of 80 percent in 1996 to 67 percent
in 2017, as seen in Figure 4. Conversely, the proportion of people
killed “outside the vehicle” (motorcyclists, pedestrians,
pedalcyclists, and other nonoccupants) increased from a low
of 20 percent in 1996 to a high of 33 percent in 2017."

The other issue is that whether you're a driver, cyclist, or
pedestrian, the data doesn't tell the whole story because you can take
steps to change your own personal odds, and governments can take steps
to change the odds as well.

A cyclist can take steps like increasing their conspicuousness, using
protective equipment, learning how to ride in traffic, and by choosing
routes that are less risky.

Government can take steps by designing transportation networks that
increase safety for all road users.


--