Citation

Perspect. Public Health 2012; 132(6): 265.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Royal Society for Public Health, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1757913912463286

PMID

23111075

Abstract

In 12 Steps to Better Public Health, the Royal Society for Public Health and the Faculty of Public Health put forward recommendations that encourage more cycling. These are important recommendations and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) certainly agrees that getting people out of their cars and using active or cleaner forms of transport has a multitude of public health benefits, not least in helping to tackle issues such as climate change and obesity.

For individuals who cycle rather than drive, the wider health benefits generally outweigh the injury costs. However, history has also shown that when there is more travel by bike, there are more cyclist fatalities, despite a lower risk per cyclist. Injuries are, largely, both predictable and controllable and, by doing so, greater overall health benefits can be achieved from cycling.

Language: en