Stay safe, take transit, says study revealing greater risks of driving, cycling and especially motorbikes
By Ian Austin, The Province February 28, 2013
The lead author of a new study endorses Vancouver’s efforts to make cycling and walking safer, with a growing network of greenways and separated bike paths.
If you want to be safe, take the bus — and leave the motorbike on blocks.
That’s the conclusion from a new study on the relative safety of the car, bicycle and motorcycle as opposed to walking and public transit.
Buses and public transit are much, much safer than any other mode of transport, while motorbikes are much, much more dangerous than anything else.
Canada is about twice as dangerous as the model transportation nation — tiny Holland, with its hordes of cyclists — and considerably safer than the most dangerous nation, the car-crazed United States.
Meghan Winters led a group of Simon Fraser
University
and University of B.C. researchers who found that 200 B.C. lives would be saved each year if we could emulate the safe streets of the Netherlands.
“Lower speeds, and put in separate areas dedicated for cyclists and walkers,” said Winters, when asked where she’d start to make Vancouver safer. “Public transit, cycling and walking are all sustainable modes of transport we should be encouraging.”
Buses and public transit were far and away the optimum choice for the safety conscious — 20 times safer than cars, bicycles and walking, which all scored roughly the same.
For those who live on the wild side, riding a motorcycle is fully 25 times as dangerous as driving, cycling or walking.
Rehabilitation facilities such as G.F. Strong are full of the victims of tragic motorbike crashes, with lengthy regimens for bikers who are particularly vulnerable to crashes.
Winters endorses Vancouver’s efforts to make cycling and walking safer, with a growing network of greenways and separated bike paths along with traffic calming roundabouts.
Concerned about a spike in pedestrian deaths, Vancouver also recently lowered the speed limit to 30 km/h on a high-volume Downtown Eastside corridor as a pilot project.
“Speed kills,” said Winters, an SFU assistant professor of health sciences. “Reducing speeds lowers the severity of the injuries.”