Originally Posted by formicaman

So I've been commuting for 10 years and never had so much as a close call, but last Friday some drunk driver with a previous DUI from the PREVIOUS EVENING killed a father of 11 cycling on the same street I will be commuting on if I get a new job. At 6 in the evening! Now, the cyclist probably had no lights and maybe he wasn't in the bike lane, but it's hard not to think that it could have been me.

I know the answer is to just be aware and well-lit and hope for the best, but part of my route would be where this doofus and about a thousand other people drive in from all over to get their drugs. I am considering avoiding this heavily-trafficked 4-lane avenue with marked bike lanes in favor of sidestreets where speeds would be lower and traffic lighter. However, the downside of THOSE streets is that they are through REALLY bad neighborhoods. Again, never had a problem riding through the ghetto apart from people asking me if I wanted drugs, but jeez.