Can You Beat the Statistics on a Bike?

By Diane Tait

Image courtesy flickr

Everyone’s looking to go green these days.  Whether it’s switching from incandescent lights to compact fluorescents or buying hybrid cars to reduce your carbon footprints, many people are willing to change their habits just to try to help the planet.  Some of us who are really interested in minimizing their impact on the environment choose to ride our bikes whenever possible, or even to commute to and from work via bicycle.  While this is a noble gesture, it doesn’t come without some related risks.  Let’s face it, when was the last time you saw a Schwinn equipped with seat-belts and air bags?  Also, while Jacksonville has the perfect weather for nearly year-round bike commuting, it’s streets are anything by bike-friendly.  Sure, there are narrow bike lanes on some streets, but that doesn’t mean that most motorists in town are vigilant when it comes to 2-wheeled vehicles, especially those with a top speed of 20 MPH.  To give all you cyclists out there a fighting chance of surviving the mean streets of North Florida, I thought I’d take the time to tell you what you’re up against whether you’re riding a beach cruiser, a road bike or a recumbent.

1.      The Upside of Cycling– Bicycling is a great way to stay in shape and get a good cardiovascular workout at the same time.  Studies conducted by numerous universities attest to the fact that for every hour you spend on a bike, you add an hour to your life expectancy.  From an ecological standpoint bicycling gives a big boost to the environment since they are a non-polluting form of transportation.  Economically, cyclists beat drivers hand’s down, since the costs associated with purchasing and maintaining a bike is minuscule compared to what we Americans spend to drive even the most economical of cars.

     

Image courtesy of flickr

2.      Parking is Never a Problem – Whether you’re commuting to work or to the store, finding a place to park a bike is never a problem.  While some office buildings and shopping centers have curbside bicycle racks, even when no rack is available, a stout cable lock and a telephone pole is all it takes to park your bike.  If you’re afraid to leave your bike outdoors after commuting to your office, no problem.  Just roll or carry your bike into your office with you.  Try doing that with your SUV.  Even where the distance to and from the destination of your choice is a bit further than you’d care to pedal, the City of Jacksonville has got you covered since their buses come equipped with front-mounted bike racks that allow you and your bicycle to ride along at no extra cost.  JTA even has a cute acronym they coined for the process called BOB (Bikes On Buses).  For more information on BOB, click on this link. 

      3.      Maintenance  Schmaintenance – If you own any 4-wheel vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, you know that maintaining your car, truck or SUV costs a pretty penny.  Even when excluding the cost of fuel, owning a motor vehicle requires you to change the oil regularly, replace the tires every 30,000-50,000 miles, adjust the alignment from time to time, replace brakes, spark plugs and other components several times during the life of the vehicle.  All this adds up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year, depending on the make and model of car your drive.  Bikes, on the other hand, only require you to purchase the occasional tire or tube and once in a blue moon have the wheels trued.  Maintenance of a bicycle is a no-brainer.

Image courtesy pixabay

      4.      The Downside of Biking – Just as with any road vehicle, there is a downside to owning a bike.  First of all, bikes are limited in their ability to haul stuff around.  For the most part, anything that you want to tote will need to fit into a front or rear-mounted bag or backpack.  Then there’s the amount of time it takes to get where you’re going on a bike.  Suddenly that 10-minute commute to the office could easily take you a half hour or more on a bicycle.  Not to mention that during the summer months even a 15-minute bike ride can leave you sweating like a pig, since the only air-conditioning your bike has is the breeze.

 5.      Killers on the Road – The biggest problem with owning a bike are the safety issues.  Since a bike has neither seat-belts nor air bags, this means that should you take a tumble or be struck by another vehicle, you can expect to be injured or worse.  A blog on bikemunk.com sums up the statistics like this: “In the US, there's been an uptick in cycling deaths in recent years. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of fatalities among "pedalcyclists" increased by more than 12 percent in 2015 and was the highest it had been since 1995.  The average age of cyclists who died in 2015 was 45. The majority were male. Around a quarter of cyclists killed on their bikes in 2015 were cycling with blood alcohol concentrations over the legal limit of 0.08.”  https://www.bikemunk.com/biking-statistics/

      6.      I Can’t See You – Face it, modern motorists are way too distracted nowadays.  If they aren’t busy talking on their phones while they drive, they are doing everything from adjusting the air-conditioning or changing radio stations, to texting while they drive or scolding their kids in the backseat.  All of these bad habits can spell disaster for cyclists.  A distracted driver can all too easily clip a bike or turn a cyclist into a speed bump.  While most of these car-on-bike accidents are the fault of motorists, sometimes the blame falls equally on the cyclist.  I don’t know how many times I’ve seen bicyclists riding on the streets at night with no lights.  I’ve also seen some recumbent bikes that are so low to the ground that they disappear from view long before you pass them.  If you want to stay safe on the street, meet motorists halfway by making yourself as visible as possible.

 

Image courtesy of flickr

7.      How to avoid becoming a statistic? – While it’s clear that there is a degree of peril when it comes to bicycling, so to is there for driving a motor vehicle.  The sad fact is the reason more people are injured or killed while riding a bike has to do with whether a cyclist was or wasn’t wearing a helmet.  While wearing a bike helmet won’t turn a rider into Iron-Man, from a statistical perspective while only 17% of who died in bike-related accidents were wearing helmets, 60% of those who died weren’t.  That means if you don’t wear a helmet, you are more three times to die on a bike.  And don’t think it takes getting hit by a car to get injured or killed on a bicycle.  Hit a pothole or smack into a curb and you could suddenly find yourself airborne.  While the majority of those who wear bike helmets only to fly off their bikes will survive the landing, all it takes for those who don’t to sustain serious or even life-threatening injuries is to land on their head.

The bottom line for all you cyclists out there is to wear helmets, obey the traffic laws, use lights at night, avoid roads with no bike lanes and never drink and ride.  We need you guys to help us keep the planet green.

Diane Tait owns and operates A&B Insurance.  To find out more about how you can save money on bike insurance, go to hersite or fill out the form at right.