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Comment by Tloewald | Hacker News Reader

The increased probability of being killed by a motorist reduces your net probability of dying from anything else regardless.

Joking! (Well, mostly.)

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I bike on city streets. So not only is there the risk of impact, but I'm also breathing all kinds of exhaust. That can't be good...

realistically, everybody else is also breathing the same air though?

Don't most cabin air filters take out the big particles in diesel exhaust? I think Tesla does at least.

I think there are some studies from here in the UK which indicate that air quality may actually be worse inside motor vehicle cabins than it is outside [1].

This may be mitigated in newer vehicles with particulate filters, I am not sure. I don't know whether filters can eliminate NOX as well as PM2.5.

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35504768

Plus, when I'm on my bicycle I'm breathing much harder than most people in cars and I'm in it for longer because I'm slower.

The article mentions that by the metric of all causes of death, the bikers still have a 40% lower death rate.

There have been a number of other studies that put the expected increased lifespan (due to better health) vs expected decreased lifespan (due to accident) anywhere from 7:1 to 70:1. And that is just mortality; biking brings a host of benefits on top of that.

I believe the death rate for all human beings is 100%, so if they can reduce it to 60% that's a miracle.

I was making a joke (and I am a cyclist), but appreciate your reply.

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