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"Cycling is not a major killer," stresses Vulpine boss Nick Hussey in The Guardian. "Putting people off cycling is," he adds.
In a heartfelt piece he writes: "I founded Vulpine because I’ve been head over heels in love with cycling since I was 13. We’re a business of course, but I have a higher aim. To get more people on bikes.
"The big problem is cycling is considered unsafe by thousands who might otherwise have taken it up. Pushing a black and white agenda that … says, “BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! CYCLING IS DANGEROUS!” For the most part it isn’t. But a sedentary lifestyle? Now that’s dangerous.
"Nobody is offering images of sofa-dwellers surrounded by life support machinery and surgeons on standby. This is closer to the reality of risk. Human perception is terribly unreliable.
"Cycling can save lives. Thousands and thousands of lives otherwise lost to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, even depression.
"Let’s put our effort into saving lives by getting bums on saddles. To do that, cycling must be a friendlier, more fun, less scary place."
Hussey’s piece is about helmets, but could also be about the dangerisation of cycling in general.
