Bicycles are perhaps the greatest invention human civilization has ever made. So great that having people use them makes the roads safer because car drivers actually start paying attention to what’s around their car.
“It appears that motorists adjust their behavior in the presence of increasing numbers of people bicycling because they expect or experience more people cycling,” said Julie Hatfield, an injury expert from the university.
With fewer accidents, people perceive cycling as safer, so more people cycle, thus making it even safer, she said.
“Rising cycling rates mean motorists are more likely to be cyclists, and therefore be more conscious of, and sympathetic towards, cyclists,” she said.
