from our friend Dave Lord, who adds: "4 million hours/fatal accident for the average bicyclist (and it's not too hard to make yourself above average) vs. 2 million hours for the automobile user."

Which Cycling Politics: Doom or Possibility?
“If you don’t stand up, you don’t stand a chance.” – Genesis, Squonk
A woman walks into a marketing and public relations firm and sits down to talk with their lead strategist.
“Our organization has a fun, safe and healthy activity we wish to promote, but we’re struggling to figure out the right approach,” she says.
The strategist thinks for a moment, then responds, “I recommend the approach bicycle advocates have been using for the past 20 years; reinforce the public’s fears about your activity.”
The woman is taken aback, pauses for a moment, then says, “Oh!  You had me going there for a moment!”
“What do you mean?” asks the strategist.
“Well, you were joking, right?…”
If only.

The Politics of Doom
Think about the things that keep people from bicycling these days.  Fear of traffic.  Fear of injury.  Of looking awkward.  Of the equipment.  Of being left behind.  Discomfort.
On what do most bicycle advocates focus?  Bike lanes, new laws, and helmets.  None of the three do much to reduce those fears, and to a significant extent they increase them.
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