I think the vast majority of street riders are responsible and careful but like many things the odd bad example really sticks out. In Europe it’s safe to ride a scooter; in the US you may be killed by an impatient car. I’ve had two motorcycle accidents that were 100% the fault of the car that pulled out right in front of me. I doubt that macho behavior affects the statistics, it’s just that “normal” accidents have higher consequences.
Male bicycle fatalities are around 8 times higher than female. My guess is it’s due to participation, not gender generalizations.
When I first started riding I remember hearing that 90% of deaths were first-year riders. I would guess that there’s something similar happening with inexperienced paddlers on rivers. Some of the summary reports on the americancanoeing.org site say that a lot of paddlers are first-time or very infrequent paddlers.
Maybe, but the numbers suggest that something else is going on.
Male participation in bicycling is about 33% higher than female, not 800% as the 8:1 fatality ratio would suggest.
Also, the fact that males are more likely to engage in risky behavior generally is well-documented in these accidental death statistics and elsewhere:
BTW, I agree that most drivers are responsible and try their best to be careful. I also agree that the minority of jerks get most of the press.
Part of the problem in the US is familiarity. I expect drivers in much of Europe and Asia are more attuned to watching for two-wheeled vehicles, motorized or not, as they’re sharing the roads with large numbers of them every day.
I don’t think it’s that safe to drive a scooter in all of Europe. Have you ever driven in Italy??? My daughter-in-law is Italian and after a few wrecks in her hometown gave up driving scooters.
(Just not into that Cold Kentucky Rain, hopefully, or whitewater entrapments, all though statistics show the average Joe is more likely to get their foot trapped in their mouth than some submerged shalely schist.)
