[pascalo]

In the overall road toll, hardly any fatalities are caused by cyclists. In fact, most accidents involving cyclist are caused by drivers.[1]

Don't get me wrong, all of it counts and is sad and regrettable. I do however think there is an anti-cyclist bias ingrained in the perception and reporting of it's dangers, that's out of whack with the real numbers on accidents.

[1] http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3758...

[hueving]

What are you going on about? The person was complaining about bicycles on the sidewalk where it is illegal for them to be. Who cares if they don't kill people that often? It's not the point!

[pascalo]

I am talking about perceived risk of cycling as a hyperbole vs actual risks that don't get mentioned. I'm pretty sure more people get killed by cars mounting the sidewalk.

[brandonmenc]

Cripes, you win. I was using "nearly killed" as a figure of speech. Guilty as charged!

But here's the rub - people don't want to put up with even a 1-in-1000 chance of getting a broken arm just from walking on the sidewalk, and they don't want to constantly be on guard against bikes zipping all over the place on what should be a relaxing walk.

It's annoying, and that's why we have things like noise ordnances even though no one ever like, dies because the neighbors are too loud.