I've been riding bikes for around 50 years, and have been hit twice. The first was in Greeley, Colorado, which had bike lanes in the center of the street. I got hit by a guy turning left with no turn indication. The second time was when a guy opened a door into me; I couldn't see because the sun was low and shining into my eyes. The driver blamed me for riding too close to his car.

I've nearly been hit a number of times when walking on a sidewalk, by drivers in a hurry. Then there's the classic case of people not stopping while looking to their left for oncoming cars, not caring that a pedestrian is approaching from their right.

Minimizing your risk while riding a bike is pretty simple. Wearing bright clothes helps a lot. I have an Aerostich hi-viz yellow jacket that makes me very easy to see. At night, I have a very bright headlight and taillight. Even so... it's up to me to be alert. A bus tried to outrun me to its next stop one time; I was prepared to move around to the left after the driver hit the brakes, but he didn't pull over and made all of his passengers walk across the bike lane to get to the bus.

Lots of people do unsafe things. I do them too, in inattentive moments. The key is to minimize them, and hope that my unsafe action doesn't line up with someone else's.

Ride alert. Have fun. Even on your way to downtown Los Angeles.