Originally Posted by tjspiel

If the number of people that decided to venture out on a bicycle was 610 in 2010 then the entire U.S. cycling population would have been totally wiped out.

If I make 2000 car trips in a year, but only 200 bike trips and I'm in one bike accident and 3 car accidents, which mode of transport proved to be safer for me?

Do you see the problem with those numbers?. Alone they don't paint an accurate picture. It could be that cycling is actually safer but you can't say that based on what he posted.

And really it comes down to individual circumstances. My commute is 60% trails, 20% quiet residential streets, and 20% busy (but low speed) city streets. I think it's pretty safe and it probably is. Several years ago I had a commute that involved a one mile stretch on a 50 mph road with no shoulder and heavy traffic. I hated that part of my commute. If my whole commute had been like that, I don't think I would have done it.

My brother was recently hit and fractured his pelvis. Had he been in a car, he most likely would have walked away without a scratch. In fact you could argue that he may not have been hit at all since the other driver would have been more likely to have seen him.

Think about it. People who are concerned about their safety in a car will try to buy a car with a high crash test safety rating. What kind of score do you think a Surly Cross Check would get in even the lowest speed crash test?

The saving grace for bikes is that they're most often used in areas where the speeds are low. But that's not true for everybody.