Originally Posted by
tjspiel
I think we need to own up to something. A fair amount of posts in this forum deal with mitigating risks be it with lighting, reflective clothing, helmets, taking the lane or not, riding on sidewalks vs. the street or choosing a different route altogether. People that drive to work do not worry about this sort of thing.
I've been hit by a car, as I imagine a lot of you have, and we've had fellow forum members badly injured. Further, a major reason why more people don't ride to work is because of concerns about safety.
I think it's foolish to pretend that this stuff isn't real.
Risks exist, but in the grand scheme of things, cycling is among the safer activities you can engage in, to the point where spending time on your bike extends, rather than shortens your life expectancy.
That we spend so much time discussing this stuff is simply because the perception of cycling safety and the reality of cycling safety are such very different things. And I'm not sure how else you counter a false impression than what's been suggested here.