And so should bicycles too. The per-mile injury rate, the stat used when comparing a given journey, for bicycles is several times higher than that of motorcycles. And skateboards... they are per-mile death traps. Rollerblades are likely more dangerous per-mile than driving drunk while smoking. If you have to cover a given distance, the safest is not always the slowest. Often the faster means limits risk exposure and come out safer despite the increases in energy and perceived danger.
The health benefits of cycling outweigh the danger by many times. It's nonsense to only look at the costs of crashes. Besides, it's the cars that are dangerous, not the bikes (in addition to causing pollution, needing more infrastructure, etc).
Indeed. By the "injuries per mile" metric, the Apollo spacecraft were probably one of the safest modes of travel ever devised, yet I don't see anyone championing space capsules as a safer substitute for cars. :)
Bikes are pretty bad. Basically everyone who has ever learned to ride a bike will at some point be injured, and not by cars but by user errors. They cannot be made safe. When you fall it will hurt. Ive seen horrible stuff from people riding bikes through woods. Speed+trees is dangerous.
