Originally Posted by
spare_wheel
Human beings are terrible at assessing risk.
2013: 7 out of 10 pedestrians killed by motorists in Portland were walking in a crosswalk with a signal.
2013: 0 (ZERO) cyclists were killed by motorists in Portland
I don't live in Portland. Again, I make a decision based on the level of risk I am willing to accept (based of course on my own judgment of risk, which you correctly note is subjective), and my personal desire to obey the laws of my society, however trivial, unless there's a compelling reason not to. Doing things the way I do on the bike, in my city, at my skill level, I feel relatively safe while riding in traffic; your mileage will obviously vary.