6 ms·

My favorite stat about micromorts is that motorcycle travel and canoe travel pose the same risk when measured by distance. That is, one mile of motorcycling has

My favorite stat about micromorts is that motorcycle travel and canoe travel pose the same risk when measured by distance. That is, one mile of motorcycling has the same risk of death as one mile of canoeing.

mulmen 10y ago
I was hoping to learn something like this. I was hoping to see other comparable activities though. Driving is actually much less dangerous than I expected in comparison to riding a motorcycle but I think there are other factors, mostly that injuries are not considered, only fatalities.
kevinwang 10y ago
Is there some sort of repository/visualization of this data anywhere?
chadgeidel 10y ago
I've ridden many many miles on a motorcycle and maybe one mile in a canoe and this statistic surprises me. I would have assumed canoeing would be much, much safer!
- ghaff 10y ago
  That's partly because you travel so much more distance in a motorcycle per unit of time. (Probably at least 20x depending upon how the statistics were derived.) It also points to another problem with this sort of data. While there are certainly deaths in challenging whitewater, a lot of canoeing deaths involve combinations like alcohol+no PFDs+cold water at night.
- baddox 10y ago
  Funny, I was thinking the opposite: that canoeing would be significantly more dangerous per mile than motorcycling.
  - chadgeidel 10y ago
    I think of all canoe trips as "gentle trips on the lake" when I read this. I suppose most canoers think of motorcyclists as "that guy doing triple the speed limit on the crowded interstate"...
    - baddox 10y ago
      My thought was simply that people drown on the water, even when not doing a potentially tricky physical activity.
ehnto 10y ago
I don't remember the exact numbers anymore, but in Australia at least the statistics suggest that if you: Don't ride under the influence, Don't ride without a license, Ride with a helment, and Don't ride an unregistered bike, Then you have decreased your risk by more than 50%. So using the articles methods, you will be exposed to less than 200 micromorts. Servicing your motorcyle and having taken a motorcycle saftey course just once also increases your liklihood of survival. Another key part of the dangers are where you ride, being more likely to die in the CBD than anywhere else, and likely related, just under 50% of accidents are caused by other motorists than the rider. Many riders seem to think it's skewed much more toward cars being at fault, it's useful to know that's not the case. A final tidbit I recall is that the biggest risk group is 40-60 year old, returning riders. Not younger new riders as you might have expected. The interesting part of all of that though is knowing such broad stats can not truly reveal your personal risk factor, and that there is a lot you can do to help your cause.
- vonmoltke 10y ago
  > I don't remember the exact numbers anymore, but in Australia at least the statistics suggest that if you: ..., Don't ride without a license, ..., and Don't ride an unregistered bike How does lack of a piece of paper increase your chances of dying?
  - betenoire 10y ago
    It puts you in the category of people who don't follow basic instructions.
    - vonmoltke 10y ago
      I suppose there is some correlation there, but stating it like that makes it sound like causation since there is a causal relationship between deaths and the other two things presented in the same statement.
      - ehnto 10y ago

mulmen 10y ago

I was hoping to learn something like this. I was hoping to see other comparable activities though. Driving is actually much less dangerous than I expected in comparison to riding a motorcycle but I think there are other factors, mostly that injuries are not considered, only fatalities.

kevinwang 10y ago

Is there some sort of repository/visualization of this data anywhere?

chadgeidel 10y ago

I've ridden many many miles on a motorcycle and maybe one mile in a canoe and this statistic surprises me. I would have assumed canoeing would be much, much safer!

ghaff 10y ago
That's partly because you travel so much more distance in a motorcycle per unit of time. (Probably at least 20x depending upon how the statistics were derived.) It also points to another problem with this sort of data. While there are certainly deaths in challenging whitewater, a lot of canoeing deaths involve combinations like alcohol+no PFDs+cold water at night.
baddox 10y ago
Funny, I was thinking the opposite: that canoeing would be significantly more dangerous per mile than motorcycling.
- chadgeidel 10y ago
  I think of all canoe trips as "gentle trips on the lake" when I read this. I suppose most canoers think of motorcyclists as "that guy doing triple the speed limit on the crowded interstate"...
  - baddox 10y ago
    My thought was simply that people drown on the water, even when not doing a potentially tricky physical activity.

ehnto 10y ago

I don't remember the exact numbers anymore, but in Australia at least the statistics suggest that if you: Don't ride under the influence, Don't ride without a license, Ride with a helment, and Don't ride an unregistered bike, Then you have decreased your risk by more than 50%. So using the articles methods, you will be exposed to less than 200 micromorts. Servicing your motorcyle and having taken a motorcycle saftey course just once also increases your liklihood of survival. Another key part of the dangers are where you ride, being more likely to die in the CBD than anywhere else, and likely related, just under 50% of accidents are caused by other motorists than the rider. Many riders seem to think it's skewed much more toward cars being at fault, it's useful to know that's not the case. A final tidbit I recall is that the biggest risk group is 40-60 year old, returning riders. Not younger new riders as you might have expected. The interesting part of all of that though is knowing such broad stats can not truly reveal your personal risk factor, and that there is a lot you can do to help your cause.

vonmoltke 10y ago
> I don't remember the exact numbers anymore, but in Australia at least the statistics suggest that if you: ..., Don't ride without a license, ..., and Don't ride an unregistered bike How does lack of a piece of paper increase your chances of dying?
- betenoire 10y ago
  It puts you in the category of people who don't follow basic instructions.
  - vonmoltke 10y ago
    I suppose there is some correlation there, but stating it like that makes it sound like causation since there is a causal relationship between deaths and the other two things presented in the same statement.
    - ehnto 10y ago