On 20/05/2020 15:04, Kelly wrote:
colwyn wrote:

Times Newspaper today

Encouraging more people to cycle to work after the lockdown could
sharply reduce deaths from heart disease and cancer, a study suggests.

Researchers who tracked 300,000 people in England and Wales found that
those who cycled or travelled by train to work had a reduced risk of
early death, compared with those who commuted by car.

Cyclists formed the healthiest cohort. They were 20 per cent less likely
to die early, compared with those who drove, and 24 per cent less likely
to die from cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attacks and
strokes. They also had a 16 per cent reduced rate of death from cancer.

Record numbers of Britons are buying new bikes or dusting down old ones.
Cycle shops say demand is "through the roof" with some reporting
queueing from morning to night as people scramble to avoid public
transport on their return to work.

Richard Patterson from the University of Cambridge, who led the study,
said: "It is a good time for everyone to rethink their transport
choices. With severe and prolonged limits in public transport capacity
likely, switching to private car use would be disastrous for our health
and the environment. Encouraging more people to walk and cycle will help
limit the longer-term consequences of the pandemic." ...

Oh dear, these presented figures don't look good for car driving. So
now our scientists are encouraging people to walk or cycle to work as
the lockdown eases for this could best help them reduce their risk of
early death and limit the long-term pandemic health consequences.

For some while smoking has been one of the big worries healthwise.
Then not too long ago I remember sugar was being touted as 'the new
smoking' - but is sugar now about to be superseded by driving? Maybe
just a little more cycling and walking will help keep us health enough
to continue using our cars on occasion.

In what *possible* way can driving be a health risk?

A *positive* health risk like over-eating, excessive drinking, smoking,
etc, I mean.

[Hint: There is nothing in driving which presents a health risk. It is
possible to make a case that there is a risk of injury, but that would
apply to all modes of travel, and to certain modes - such as motorbike -
even more so.]

Currently, for those who have to do it, travelling to work in a private
car - with the windows closed - must be the safest way to travel, bar
absolutely none.