You are reading a single comment by @Oliver Schick and its replies. Click here to read the full conversation.
  • As I said, Paul, the word is ambiguous and very vague, and over-used. Modern usage is becoming increasingly like crying 'fire' every time you light a match. Just because you can fall down the stairs doesn't make climbing stairs 'dangerous'. Yes, dangerous situations can arise in a wide variety of activities, but that doesn't make any of those activities automatically 'dangerous'. A dangerous activity is one that is consistently dangerous, like defusing a bomb. Cycling is not like that, and neither is climbing stairs or playing conkers. There simply isn't any evidence that cycling is consistently 'dangerous'. The number and frequency of crashes, while too high to be acceptable and frequently preventable, is very low. Stressing this is indeed very helpful, as it corrects a persistent false belief.

    (NB this is one of those interminable discussions that never have any resolution, so don't expect one here, either. :) )

About