That's very interesting, that you consider canoeing hazardous. I don't, and I used to have a river beside my house and take the canoe down at least 3-5 times a week. It's a means of transportation, but you still have to know the river, where things are, how to use the currents, plan the trip, etc. But I still look at the river, wear my PFD, sometimes wear a wet suit (cold water), and enjoy my paddling.
You may not realize it, but Lewis and Clark, on their expedition down the Columbia River and back, did not loose one person to a water mishap. They almost lost some gear, but not a person. Comparing my analogy to the Powell's expedition on the Colorado is also interesting, and shows where your heads are at. You guys don't know me at all, nor do you know much about canoeing. I have not been hurt paddling a canoe; but I have riding a bicycle.
You are also in denial about the safety of the roads. We have a major problem in this country about roads, and the use of it by cars. Here in Oregon, in fewer than the first 100 days of this year, we have had 100 deaths on the roads:
http://www.bta4bikes.org/btablog/200...ays-slow-down/
To quote this article, "A traffic crash occurs every 13 minutes and a fatality occurs every 18 hours in Oregon. Alcohol and drugs are involved in 40% of all crashes and speed is involved in over 50%. Nationally, the leading cause of death for persons ages 3 to 33 is a traffic crash." I think the BTA is listing four deaths to bicyclists in Oregon so far this year (if I'm reading the website correctly). So bicyclists are in this mix too.
I have the NHTSA study titled "The Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes 2000" which put the cost of these crashes at $230.6 billion, or approximately $820 for each person in the USA, and about 2.3% of our GDP for the year 2000. In that year, there were 41,821 fatalities in the United States. 5.3 million persons were injured in 16.4 million motor vehicle crashes, which included the 41,821 fatalities. Here is the study:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfiles...Impact2000.pdf
Now, if you will please tell me how to get those numbers down to a tenth that level, then I will consider the roads relatively safe. Right now, they are not. Until there is a culture change in this country, and that includes you guys too, it won't happen. Riding a bicycle in these conditions as a vehicle invites mixing it up with people who drive drunk, drive under the influence of drugs, are in road rage, and drive while talking on a cell phone, all of which impare drivers. The normal rules of the road, the VC riding you advocate, will not help in these situations.
I don't see anything that any of the VC advocates, including John Forester, are saying or doing that will help these numbers.
John