The more cyclists on the road, the safer for all of them. A new study from the Norwegian Centre for Transport Research found that “(w)hen more cyclists turn to the roads in Oslo each spring, the risk for each cyclist of being involved in a conflict or near miss is reduced.”
By Charles Pekow
The report, Safety in Numbers: Uncovering the Mechanisms of Interplay in Urban Transport, says “(t)here has been a concern that an increase in walking and cycling will create more accidents.” But the fear is as misguided as going the wrong way down a one-way street.
Researchers looked at a variety of studies in Scandinavia. They were able to gauge traffic volume and crash data well because in the northern environment, cycling traffic varies tremendously by season. The greater the cycling traffic, the lesser the chance not only of collisions, but the lesser the number of near-misses. A main reason: with more cyclists on the roads, the more likely motorists were to see them and look out for them. Read report.
