Originally Posted by
FBinNY
+1, It's counter intuitive since most people think in terms of protecting themselves by using their hands, but the "safest" way to crash is to ride the bike all the way to the ground.
Otherwise, most spills are to the side and if you "ride" the bike to the ground, you'll take the brunt of the impact on your shoulder, and to a lesser extent on your ribs, hip, and thighs. If you have normal bone strength and muscular padding, odds are you'll walk away and be complaining about road rash for a few days.
Maybe we should develop some "clipless grips" and gloves. Then not only would we not be able to get our feet loose from the pedals, but also unable to let go of the bars and have no choice but "ride it to the ground".