Originally Posted by Helmet Head
Worse than fatal?
Of course it's bad when it happens. So are shark attacks. The point I'm trying to make is the relative unlikelihood of a cyclist being fatally injured from behind during the day as compared to all the other ways a cyclist is likely to be killed.
It's not even clear that riding outside of the rubble, further to the left, makes you more likely to be hit from behind. In fact, since you're more likely to be seen when you're further left, you're probably less likely to be hit, as counter-intuitive as that may seem.
Statistics, shmatistics. All I can tell you is that the number of close calls and unpleasant interactions with motorists dropped dramatically for me when I started riding further left and out of the rubble. I'm used to it now, but at first it felt funny and awkward, but as I experienced more and more positive interactions with motorists, I gradually started feeling safer doing it. Gradually, I think it took about a week.... Anyway, now I feel much safer in traffic than I ever did before. And, as a bonus, I get about 5,000 miles between flats.
"Worse than fatal???" What???
The results of overtaking collisions tend to be death, while other collisions don't often lead to death... but the other type of collisions do occur more often. So you don't die; you don't become a statistic of the 700 or so deaths a year. You just end up broken into little pieces and unable to function for years, or life...
Statistics suck... the number of deaths has nothing to do with the potential results of accidents... so don't bother quoting stats... especially considering that many accidents go unreported.
Now the reality is that moving left will probably help... just as I acknowledged:
Originally Posted by genec
This is not to imply that one shouldn't ride in the lane or move further left...