Mixed Message?

Or "Scare Them into Riding Their Bike!"

Sometimes, I wonder what people that like riding their bikes are thinking. Witness a headline I saw today; above. Associating maiming with bicycle commuting seems like a poor sales tactic to me. I'm sure all my readers have seen many similar headlines posted by people that think they are advocating for cycling.

I prefer the message that I've often cited here: "Cycling is Fun and Safe!" What's more, it's even safer if you are not riding like a clueless person. I guess motoring is pretty much the same way, We should keep in mind that 600 or 700 people get killed each year on bikes. Mostly they were doing something pretty dumb when it happened (wrong way, crossing intersections without looking and many more bad practices), even if the motorist finally got blamed. That compares to 30000 motorists that get killed each year in/on motor vehicles. I guess most of them were also doing something pretty dumb when it happened, so perhaps there IS balance in the Universe.