The one study I’ve seen that looks at the net health effect of cycling came to the conclusion that cycling is a net benefit. Loads of bicycling advocates promote this to suggest that cycling is in general a net benefit for you health. Unfortunately for North Americans, the data in the study came from Europe. Cycling is much safer in Europe. I am not aware of any analysis using data from North America, and I’m unsure whether such an analysis would come to the same conclusion.
With this being said, I ride a bike for transportation. I read studies on safety and actively try to minimize my risk. This includes minimizing my mileage, as the risk is per unit distance. So far, so good. I haven’t been in a real crash yet in 4 years of commuter cycling, though I’ve had plenty of close calls. Worst I can say is that I did once hit a pothole and fall over, but there were no lasting effects.
The one study I’ve seen that looks at the net health effect of cycling came to the conclusion that cycling is a net benefit. Loads of bicycling advocates promote this to suggest that cycling is in general a net benefit for you health. Unfortunately for North Americans, the data in the study came from Europe. Cycling is much safer in Europe. I am not aware of any analysis using data from North America, and I’m unsure whether such an analysis would come to the same conclusion.
With this being said, I ride a bike for transportation. I read studies on safety and actively try to minimize my risk. This includes minimizing my mileage, as the risk is per unit distance. So far, so good. I haven’t been in a real crash yet in 4 years of commuter cycling, though I’ve had plenty of close calls. Worst I can say is that I did once hit a pothole and fall over, but there were no lasting effects.