The important metric is fatalities per distance traveled, not absolute numbers. In the Netherlands, bicycles have 11 fatalities per billion kilometers traveled. Cars have 1.6.
I'm not sure that makes much sense as a safety metric, bicycles obviously travel less distance on average per instance used, so the 'rate of death' would not have the same scaling as distance traveled
Well, when I'm considering biking or driving my car, the destination is fixed. I can drive 2 miles to the store or I can bike 2 miles to the store. I'm not choosing between, should I take an average bicycle trip right now, or should I take an average car trip right now. So the danger per mile does seem like the relevant metric there.
The comparison is valid because people in this thread are saying that bikes should substitute for many car trips. If they were saying the same thing about walking then I’d make the point about waking safety. But walking can’t substitute for many car trips so it’s a non-issue.
Cars have disadvantages and externalities, but they are much safer than bicycles. This is true even in the most bike-friendly countries on earth.
