Biking Safety Numbers in Chicago

I've just read the ATA blog post about Bobby Cann's death (so maddening). The article opens by stating that "[i]n Chicago there are on average 12 people killed each year while biking." I have often wondered about the relative safety of biking versus driving in Chicago. Has anyone worked up these numbers? In other words, I am wondering whether it is safer to bike in Chicago or to drive here. This means I am curious about how the estimated number of bikers and biker deaths per year compares to the estimated number of drivers in Chicago and driver deaths per year here. Has anyone done any work on this?

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Permalink Reply by Agnieszka Z. on June 7, 2013 at 1:36pm

Anyone from ATA care to weigh in about how you guys arrived at that number?

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Permalink Reply by Gort 12-mile Pinklegneep on June 7, 2013 at 1:51pm

I was doin' the igo thing last week because i had some contract work in the suburbs and saw a big flasher on the expressway declaring something like 360 traffic fatalities this year. What got me about that statistic is less that vs bike fatalities than vs chicago gun deaths (506 for the whole of 2012, vs 559 traffic fatalities for the same period).