Angie Schmitt, February 10, 2011, StreetsBlog

Image via League of American Bicyclists
Studies have long linked cycling safety to the number of cyclists on the street — the old safety-in-numbers maxim in action.
The latest evidence validating this phenomenon comes from chilly Minneapolis. In the mid-1990s, collisions involving cyclists peaked at 334, according to city data reported by the League of American Bicyclists. Since then, bike commuting has skyrocketed 174 percent. Meanwhile, the number of collisions has declined 20 percent to 269.