Slate explores the facts and figures of this antipathy towards cyclizens. You hate them when they disobey traffic laws. You hate them when they cut you off. But did you know that cyclist-caused accidents have dramatically decreased in the past several years?
A recent study by researchers at Rutgers and Virginia Tech supports that hypothesis. Data from nine major North American cities showed that, despite the total number of bike trips tripling between 1977 and 2009, fatalities per 10 million bike trips fell by 65 percent. While a number of factors contribute to lower accident rates, including increased helmet usage and more bike lanes, less aggressive bicyclists probably helped, too.
