English is my first language. That was not condescending in the slightest.
If there are less accidents in an area then people in that area are less likely to experience one.
I don’t cycle round in circles. I’m bound to hit a town now and again. Anyway, people still drive like knobs out in the country. Isn’t that obvious?
(that was condescending)
*fewer accidents
Sorry, will get my coat… 
Fewer. HTH.
Damn, beat me to it. 
What a smart lady. I’m sure she was aware that the 70 mph UK speed limit was introduced in 1967 and based on the Ford Anglia with its 70 mph top speed and a stopping distance of 244 ft (a modern car can stop in half that distance).
You are not a statistician, I guess? Per capita the number of accidents with injury is pretty much the same in NE as in ZH.
Always happens…!
No. Not at all. If Belgianmum is observing accidents (which is what she wrote), it’s the total number of accidents it’s possible for her to observe which is important and not the number of accidents per capita.
divide per cantonal population to get a an annual rate per 1’000 inhabitants. A bit higher in ZH but it’s not the difference between night and day:
Yesterday the Zurich University Hospital published these numbers. Maybe e-bikes is a misleading term because the injuries resulting from e-bike crashes are much more severe than bikes. It may look like a bicycle but the message is clear: brain injuries are closer to motorcycle than bicycle.
I think rules could be more lax for pedestrians and cyclists. e.g. pedestrians being allowed to cross the road at any point (not just at a marked crossing) and also on red. cyclists somewhere in between e.g. allowing right turn on red.
There are places where cyclists are allowed to go through red lights (I’ve seen a few junctions that allow RTOR).
E-bikes are my bug-bear so, tempting as it is to tar them all with my angry little brush (sorry @Olygirl for my earlier post about the slow up 
), I’m sure most are responsible riders. However, you really do have to keep your wits about you, say, down at the lake or where there are wide pavements shared by pedestrians and cyclists and now e-bikers/scooters which reach eye-watering speeds. Often the push bikes are a bit too slow for the e-bike so they’ll whip round, weaving in and out into the pedestrian lane. Doesn’t bear thinking about if they connect with some poor sod minding their own business.
You mean like we currently are? Only if you’re within 50m of a crossing must you use it, which I view as eminently sensible.
I agree about the cyclist right-turn-on-red, and as I already mentioned it’s something that I’ve been known to do when I used to ride the 25km to work in Basel from our house in Alsace.
Why are you so fixated on the car brands? If you’re an experienced and fervent cyclist you should figure out which areas are more problematic and be extra-careful or…don’t get upset so much.
I know where I can feel safe when out and about cycling and mentioned it in another post.
Edit; oh yes, and Volvo became the favourite brand for family cars later on. Those anecdotes must look quite funny nowadays…
What are you afraid of?
You’ve got nothing to lose by asking other than a prejudice, or getting it validated.
As useful an info as trying to catch flies on a sunny day. I don’t know what can he do with this information other than behave strangely around BMWs…and get bumped by a Honda instead.
Probably because, as a cyclist, it helps me stay alive.
You’re the one who says you don’t like to cycle here but yet here you are telling someone who does cycle what they should look out for. Thanks.
Personally I think it’s shocking that people feel they cannot go out for a bike ride for fear of getting injured.
The government should do more to reduce that fear and make cycling safer (both in reality and perceived risk) for all.
But maybe this strategy doesn’t really function given the number of incidents you have been through? I feel sorry that you have been through all that, I don’t make this observation just to be mean.
Not sure how to explain this to the statisticians but I’ll try…
Two forests are the same size.
One forest contains one lumberjack and one bear.
The other forest contains 1000 lumberjacks and 1000 bears.
(Both have the same ratio of Lumberjacks to bears)
In which of the two forests, the first, or the second, is a lumberjack (any lumberjack, but only one selected one), more likely to see a bear (any bear)?
When you answer, we can go on from there…
A new helpful category, accidents (or bear attacks) per square kilometer 
This is normal for any activity, though. Of course people can get hurt on the roads through cycling or in any other vehicle, same as you can get hurt skiing or running or literally any activity. I don’t think that it’s any better or worse than other countries and, judging by the amount of people out and about on bikes, I don’t think it has become part of the national psyche to the point that nobody bothers getting on two wheels any more.
I go out on my bike fully expecting to exercise caution and be careful in traffic. Expecting everyone else to take that responsibility from me is just suicide, and verging on a nanny state.
Regarding the government making provisions for cyclists, I had to laugh the other weekend when driving back from an afternoon out along an 80 km/h road which had a brand new beautiful cycle path the ENTIRE length, only to find I had to overtake various individuals and groups on their bikes on the effing road! The state can provide the facilities but they can’t force people to use them.
