Originally Posted by
mr_bill
You know every time you sit behind the wheel on the road or step off a curb onto the road you are taking your life in your own hands? Just checking.
-mr. bill
Not necessarily. In a modern automobile driving on surface streets in my city (35 mph or less speed limits), the odds of being KILLED by another motorist is fairly slim (unless you drive like a total @$$). Lots of armor and air bags between me and the texters out there. LOTS of room for error.
Stepping off of a curb with due caution is a fairly simple act of waiting until nothing is coming and then proceeding. Cars are not roaring up behind me. Pedestrians get clobbered because they don't pay attention when crossing mid block, between parked cars, etc. Cars jumping the curb and killing people on the sidewalk does happen. I lost a friend that way who was not only an avid cyclist but OWNED a bike shop. Life's little ironies.
In life, we can make choices that reduce, or eliminate our risks. I do not like getting stung by jellyfish. Since I have completely given up swimming in open waters I have reduced my chances of jellyfish stings down to ZERO. If I drove a car to work, risks of clogged arteries aside, my chances of being accidentally KILLED would be substantially less than riding my bike to work, I believe. If I were not willing to accept the added risk (just barely) I could ride the bus and walk four blocks which would drop the odds of me getting killed on my bicycle to ZERO and killed by any other road users down to a "statistical zero" at least.