Is It Getting Worse?
Apparently, no. But actually, yes - for a surprising reason.
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Do the math, and in 2005, one American cyclist died for every 7,100 who could be considered the sport's core-us.
In 1995, according to NSGA, there were more participants: 56 million total, with 9 million frequent riders-and it turns out that one out of every 10,800 core cyclists was killed, a significantly safer percentage than today. The biggest year of serious participation-1991, with 11.5 million frequent cyclists-was the safest single-year percentage on record: 834 fatalities, or one for every 13,641 core cyclists.
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[For comparison: one motorized vehicle occupant died for every 5,400 licensed drivers in 2005]
<a href="http://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6610,s-3-12-16651-1,00.html">http://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6610,s-3-12-16651-1,00.html</a>
Comparison data: <a href="http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx">http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx</a>