CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: "Public bike sharing schemes save lives" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: "Public bike sharing schemes save lives" en Mon, 18 May 2026 05:48:31 +0000 Instography on ""Public bike sharing schemes save lives"" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=3568#post-37428 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:05:19 +0000 Instography 37428@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>It's worth following the link to the BMJ and reading the full article to see just how much of the data is "modelled", by which they mean, "assumed or made up".</p> <p>But this is the same thing Wingpig linked to this morning. The trouble is these schemes don't save lives. At best they delay death. These people will all die some time. And that's the problem with them. Just like most health interventions they offer jam tomorrow. So when they say the health benefits outweigh the risks, they forget to mention that the health benefits (in terms of death delayed) accrue in some probabilistic future whereas the risks are faced today. When you present it like that it makes sense to stay off the bike and avoid today's risk even if it means foregoing some dubiously beneficial extra years at the end of your life.</p> <p>That seems to me to be real public health challenge - for almost every area such as physical activity, smoking, drinking, diet - to get people to change their behaviour on a distant promise. </p> chdot on ""Public bike sharing schemes save lives"" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=3568#post-37407 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:21:23 +0000 chdot 37407@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"<br /> Research finds that such schemes civilise cities, with motorists more aware of cyclists (motoring is riskier to health).<br /> "</p> <p><a href="http://www.bikebiz.com//news/read/public-bike-sharing-schemes-save-lives" rel="nofollow">http://www.bikebiz.com//news/read/public-bike-sharing-schemes-save-lives</a></p> <p>Time for Edinburgh to get one! Maybe like this - <a href="http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=3459">Newcastle bike hire scheme goes public</a>. </p> <p>How about paying for it with "Health" money not just "Transport"? </p>