I'm far less worried about crashing into cars than I am about the pedestrian situation...

I had the experience once of swerving my bike while simultaneously tackling a startled woman who had darted accross the street, thereby breaking her fall. She explained it to me after the fact, "I am okay - you hugged me"; this wasn't a .24 seconds conscious decision by any means.

Luckily, everybody was okay in the end. The woman was spooked and I got an adorable barely noticable scar on my right elbow. Still, I was waking up in a cold sweat from that nightmare where I level a pregnant jaywalker for weeks...