Originally Posted by
tadawdy
just got back from visiting family in south-central IL. I was going to take my bike and ride, but didn't for fear of something like this happening. That is the sad truth.
In my eyes, a mostly deserted rural road is actually the most dangerous place to be. No driver really pays attention, because they don't have to most of the time. They also aren't particularly welcoming of bikes on the road, and may not expect them to be around. Basically, they're not conducting their vehicles properly.
Safety wise, I'll take a moderately busy city street over a 2-lane country road with no shoulder.
Also, most old people really do suck at driving. It gets dangerous when their reaction time has slowed more than they realize, and they don't adjust to compensate. For every granny driving 15 mph in an effort to be safe, there's a blind grandpa pushing 90 on the highway.
I live in western Kentucky, which is not unlike southern Illinois with respect to driving. People on the two lane country roads are irresponsible, plain and simple. They will drive so ridiculously fast with no shoulder just because the roads aren't policed and they have been doing it for years. Cell phone usuage and impared drivers (prescription meds, dui, inexperienced young drivers and senile old ones) just makes it even worse. It scares me to go out on those roads and ride and I used to commute daily in Chicago from the north side to the Loop. The percent numbers of one-car accidents must be staggering because it seems every week there are a few new ones in the paper.