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  • This is not going to go down very well, but I can't see the difficulty in saying that cycling is dangerous. It clearly is, as are many things which shouldn't, for the sake of enjoyment, and literally cannot, as they're a staple of life, be avoided due to a presence of danger. It's perfectly possible to have an accident in the home, or outside. People have been killed doing the most innocuous of things, which cycling isn't.

    There's nothing benign about riding a bike on a public road, full of huge vehicles. Even then, a bike is a contraption which can fail mechanically at any time, due to any number of reasons. I love cycling, but I'm certainly not afraid of it. But there are inherent dangers to riding a bike, from even the slightest and most unpredictable of circumstances. A pebble leading to a blow-out can do for you, let alone a bus. Maybe that all pessimism, but it's also realistic.

    If these risks put people off then that's a shame, and there are people who are afraid of nearly everything and so would never consider riding a bike. No amount of favourable statistics will convince them otherwise. I just don't think that any objection to cycling being 'tainted' as dangerous on the part of cyclists is very helpful. It is, so accept that and move on, while dodging any cracks in the pavement while you're at it.

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