Hiker accidents are extremely rare in comparison because it is safe.

Look at the real stats Ed. Hiking is safer, yes, but it is
not absolutely safe ... nothing is. Both hiking and mountainbiking are in
a natural, untrammeled environment and therefore subject to very similar
risks.

The risks are not similar at all. Riding a bike on a trail
designed for walking is a circus act, chock full of risks at every
turn.

So, if that is the case, why do the 3.5million rides EVERY DAY result in so few fatalities and serious injuries ? You simply either don't understand probability or you are dishonest ...

Further, the biker accidents that do occur are normally quite serious
requiring

rescue services and emergency rooms. You simply do not know what you
are

blathering about.



At least I bother to read around the topic and find data ... you
just think that your opinions count as fact. I reiterate, the demonstrated
KSI figures show that mountainbiking is pretty safe ... not absolutely,
certainly, but the risks are low.

The risks are high, especially on alpine trails. Even very
experienced riders suffer horrible accidents, but newbies are most at risk.

I'm inured to this kind of blather now. You have never produced one iota of evidence to back this up. It's your biased opinion, nothing more, and it's incorrect.

I understand what I am doing perfectly without getting moronic

lectures from you about the scientific method.

Ed, you're either uneducated as regards statistics or, if you
aren't, then you are fundamentally dishonest. If there are 3.5 million
rides per day then even a risk of 0.01% would result in 3,500 serious
injuries. All you can produce is a tiny handful ... so we can safely
conclude, as have all the medical bodies, that mountainbiking is relatively
safe.

Your statistics don't interest me since we do not know what is
being measured. A few stories explain the situation better than any of your
meaningless numbers (data).

The statistics don't interest you because they disprove what you would like to state as fact. As a result, you'd prefer to highlight a tiny handful of reported incidents and pretend that they are somehow indicative of a wider malaise. We are measuring, and you are reporting, injuries and fatalities ... as such, whilst the precise metrics (fatalities per million miles, serious injuries per thousand exposures etc) may vary they allow us to, quite sensibly, compare different activities. And, on doing so, mountainbiking comes up as relatively safe; safer than driving, skiing, rugby, american football etc etc. In this case, it's not the statistics that are trying to lie ... it's you !

I am pointing out some

generalized conditions which prevail with regard to mountain biking,
which the

mountain biking community itself tends to gloss over (expect by the
few freaks

who are really into it). Innocent people go biking on trails thinking
it is safe

and it is not safe at all. You blather does nothing to refute what I
am

saying.

No, you're not pointing out anything of the kind. You're
trawling the internet or setting up a Google Feed to show you whenever a
mountainbiking accident or fatality occurs. I'm not denying they occur
but, set against the number of rides taking place, they are tiny ... hence
validating the relative safety of the activity.

I dare you ... set the same search/filter for hiking and see what
you get. I predict you will find even more serious injuries and fatalities
for hiking ... as the Lake District Mountain Rescue contains ... not because
hiking is more dangerous but because there are more hikers.

That is your job, I am sure you will find that hiking is as
safe as walking around the block compared to biking on a trail - which is as
dangerous (and as stupid) as going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

Too asinine to even merit a comment. Dishonest or scientifically stupid; which is it Ed ?

You are posting some meaningless numbers which no one is ever

going to connect with. I am posting a few stories (among hundreds)
from all over

the world which bring home how dangerous biking on trails is.despite
all the

propaganda to the contrary.



If it's so dangerous Ed then why CAN'T you find any numbers to
back you up as to the relative risk ? Out of context your stories are
completely worthless.

Media reports are better than any numbers. The facts are that
hiking is safe and biking on trails is not safe.

Very funny. Your logic seems to, as ever, revert to a statement of what you were originally attempting to prove. A wonderful demonstration of circular logic.

Still, at least it serves to allow me to prove that your logic is as in error as your premises. I think your premises stand comprehensively disproved..