Originally Posted by
ad18
... Plus do the rear facing bike lights add another layer of protection during the day? Or with both of the above scenarios if a driver is not paying attention or you put your self in a bad spot is an accident inevitable. Fear I will lose the fight. Thanks.
Everything counts and can shift odds, however slightly. However, the starting point, even if one does everything wrong is still pretty good.
All in all, bicycling is and has always been pretty safe, and collisions are far from inevitable. The vast majority of possible collisions result in nothing more that some rubber ground into the road, and possibly some harsh words and/or hard feelings.
IME bicycling is another one of those things that validate the phrase "close only counts in horseshoes".
Ride smart, but don't ride paranoid.