Originally Posted by
treebound
I don't think "chickened out" is the right wording relative to Joey's question. I took his question as being about feeling most at risk. That is how I replied to the poll. "Chickened out" might be appropriate if the question was what factors led to people giving up riding their bike for commuting and other non-recreational uses. He asked for people who still ride when they can, so technically no respondents have chickened out per se.
But anyway still a fun and informative poll.
Sorry but I believe it's warranted. Something is almost always behind you. To me it seems comparable to a phobia.
Originally Posted by
enigmaT120
About 98% of my riding is on rural, 55 mph roads with no shoulders. 3 cyclists were killed in Polk County in 2012 by drivers from the rear. Getting rear ended is about the only kind of wreck I have to worry about. Well, that or hitting a deer on a dark downhill, but that wasn't in the poll.
I've ridden on 55mph roads but supposedly unlike you, I had a wide shoulder. If that's all you do, then are you real on par the OP's standard? I'm unsure whether I could ride 98% of my time in constant fear of something suddenly attacking me from behind.
Originally Posted by
daveF
I see other cyclists almost get clipped quite often. Maybe the probability is rather low, but I personally see it almost happen quite often. I've had to duck under mirrors on more than one occasion.
How did you duck under mirrors?
Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Low probability of what? Your source for this tidbit of low probability?
Chickened out? Where did you get that notion that cyclists who have "Real" experience with their own environment are "chickens"? Was it the same source as your probability info?
Yes, chickened and that was a critique. I thought that particular statistical figure wasn’t uncommon knowledge at least for safety-oriented commuters, and several others here have acknowledged that fact. Maybe you should read something informative instead of making 16,000 posts of constant stink. As for stats, it’s
here and
here.