I pretty much quit crashing when I stopped crits in the early 70s. It seemed to consist of go fast, turn, mingle, crash, get up, go fast, turn, mingle, crash. I decided I was not well suited to the sport, at least not competitively.

In 1973 I hit a cop car that made a left turn in front of me. I was following a dump truck by about 100 feet. When the dump truck cleared his path, the cop took a left turn into a pizza parlor. I couldn't stop in time. What I learned from that is to assume that all cars that have the opportunity to turn in front of you will do so. It has served me well in both bicycling and motorcycling. Bike was totaled, but I'm sure I could have sold it on Craigs List with the title "Motobecane with steep racing geometry".

In 1976 I got hit by a wobbly wrinkly from Oregon driving an Electra 225. It was a glancing blow and the only thing that went through my mind was "eject the bike safely onto the boulevard strip". Nice road rash on that one. Bike was unscathed. I learned that, aside from looking back, being aware, and listening (one of the reasons I hate Toyota Piouses is ya can't hear them) there ain't much you can do except stay as far to the right as practicable.

In about 20 years of commuting I never had an accident or injury. I did fall down once on a beach bike path, but I was deliberately trying to drift through sand in a corner. Doesn't count.

All in all, I'm doing pretty well with cycling. I've never been killed.

Not even once.

Tom