cyclehelmets.org |
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| Risk per participant | Risk by time | Deaths per year | Risk per lifetime | Risk by distance and age |
The promotion of cycle helmets portrays cycling as an especially risky activity, but examination of comparative risk data reveals otherwise. It transpires that cycling is in fact one of the safest ways to spend one's time. As well as being safer than the obvious high-risk sports such as climbing, it is also much safer than more 'ordinary' sports such as football, swimming or fishing and, indeed, safer than general 'living' (the net outcome of all causes of death).
The data below compare cycling with other activities based on different indicators.
Risk relative to cycling based on fatality rates per participant (UK)
Relative risk per participant |
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| Less safe | Airsports | 450 |
| Climbing | 137 |
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| Motor sports | 81 |
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| Fishing | 41 |
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| Horse riding | 29 |
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| Swimming | 7.0 |
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| Athletics | 5.7 |
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| Football | 4.9 |
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| Tennis | 4.2 |
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| Cycling | 1.0 |
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| Safer | Golf | 0.83 |
| Rambling | 0.06 |
Figures relate to 1986 and are derived from OPAS Monitors from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, UK.
The number of fatalities are taken from Coroner's Court records and information on participation rates from the General Household Survey.
Fatalities per million hours |
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| Less safe | Sky diving | 128.71 |
| General aviation | 15.58 |
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| On-road motorcycling | 8.80 |
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| Scuba diving | 1.98 |
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| Living (all causes of death) | 1.53 |
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| Swimming | 1.07 |
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| Snowmobiling | 0.88 |
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| Passenger cars | 0.47 |
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| Water skiing | 0.28 |
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| Bicycling | 0.26 |
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| Safer | Flying (scheduled domestic airlines) | 0.15 |
| Hunting | 0.08 |
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| Cosmic radiation from transcontinental flights | 0.035 |
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| Home living (active) | 0.027 |
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| Traveling in a school bus | 0.022 |
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| Passenger car post-collision fire | 0.017 |
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| Home living (including sleeping) | 0.014 |
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| Residential fire | 0.003 |
Data from Failure Analysis Associates, Inc (now Exponent Inc), Design News, 10 April 1993.
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These figures take no account of population at risk, but if exposure is taken into account, the risk of being killed through cycling is very small compared with most of the other activities cited.
Risk of death during lifetime |
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| Heart disease | 1 in 5 |
| Motor vehicle accident | 1 in 84 |
| Pedestrian accident | 1 in 626 |
| Motorcycle accident | 1 in 1,020 |
| Bicycle accident | 1 in 4,919 |
Source: National Geographic, August 2006. These statistics show the relative risk to society; no account is taken of exposure.
Risk of injury per million km |
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| Age group | Motorists (driver) | Cyclists |
12 - 14 |
16.8 |
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15 - 17 |
18.2 |
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18 - 24 |
33.5 |
7.7 |
25 - 29 |
17.0 |
8.2 |
30 - 39 |
9.7 |
7.0 |
40 - 49 |
9.7 |
9.2 |
50 - 59 |
5.9 |
17.2 |
60 - 64 |
10.4 |
32.1 |
> 64 |
39.9 |
79.1 |
Total |
20.8 |
21.0 |
The statistics for motorists exclude driving on motorways, where risk is very much less than on ordinary roads, for there is no comparable factor for cycling.
The average total risk is biased against cyclists because of the inclusion of two age groups (under 18 years) that do not exist in motorists; two groups, moreover, who have neither the caution nor experience of their elders.
Source: Dekoster J, Schollaert U. Cycling; the way ahead for towns and cities. European Commission DG XI. 1999.
| See also: | Assessing the actual risk faced by cyclists |
How safe is cycling? An informative quiz  |
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