Whenever media, politicians, people or even the police complain about dangerous cyclists, with their reckless driving, without a helmet, without a light, please remember it is a distraction. They don't want you to know the truth, because they love their cars more than the neighbors children.
I kindly ask you to remind them of this table whenever the topic comes up. For example: 'yes, cyclists should have a light to reduce danger, but remember that the car is the bigger danger by far. Always. And whenever we ignore that, we accept the loss of lives.' This is not whataboutism, because regarding safety, the numbers clearly show which culprit to urgently address first.
Even if the car was more dangerous in the past and safety regulations have helped: these numbers are from 2022. If you feel safer driving in a car, instead of walking or cycling: look for the deaths for car-on-car collisions.
There is no way around this: if we have that many cars driving fast, we will have that many deaths.
Thank you!
Sources:
similar matrix but for cities only
[academic] [image]
500 deaths by bicycle x no other vehicle makes a strong case for wearing a helmet
In fairness, without further detail than this chart, it's a bit nuanced. Even the simple figure of 1 death in 82,000 riders I wouldn't say makes a strong case for all those millions of people buying and wearing a helmet.
If it came to be that those 500 were doing speed rather than leisurely riding, then my takeaway would be if you're moving quick, don the protective gear. Likewise, if it were the case that the 500 were riding in shared modality areas, my interpretation would be to put the helmet on when leaving the segregated infrastructure.
It would be unexpected to learn those deaths happened mostly on protected infrastructure by commuters or similar. Either way, while I disagree and don't think this data provides a significant reason to wear a helmet, I am still surprised how many people go without in Europe. Cheap ones can be uncomfortable, sure, but many mediocre helmets are fine. Maybe it's a style thing, or disdain for helmet hair? I haven't the foggiest idea.