In 36 years of being on bikes, I've only been hit once and that was this Spring. Luckily I was not seriously hurt. The only long term damage was a slighly smashed thumb. It took about 2 months before all the stiffness and pain was completely gone, but it was never realy bad. My nail had to be asperated, and the nasty looking part is starting to grow out nicely. The first 11 years of my life was spent in the Netherlands, and of that the first 7 were without a car. Even after we got a car we used to use the bikes a lot for basic transport as it was quicker and easier than dealing with parking a car.

You do have to be careful, but that goes for driving a car we well. I've been hit twice while driving. Neither was my fault and neither could be prevented my me. Try to be defensive. If you think think you are going to be cut-off then assume you will be and take evasive actions before it is too late. sadly there are situations where people get hurt and it was not their fault, but that can happen either in a car or on a bike. I am sure we all know can name people we know that has been killed while driving their car by being hit by a drunk or rekless driver. Sadly more than 40,000 people are killed yearly in the USA in automobile accidents. The road is not a safe place to be. We all have to learn to mitigate the dangers. While riding my bike, I try to avoid high speed roads. Most of the streets I ride on have a maximum speed limit of 35 and have good shoulders. I also have a rear view mirror on my left handlebad to help keep an eye on traffic behind me.

You can never be completely safe on a bike, but the same is true of an automobile. Take the usualy precautions.
Be visable (wear bright cloths)
Make your bike visable (I use blinking lights front and rear)
Wear proper safety gear (helmet and gloves)
Be predictable on the road
Follow traffic law - I may roll slowly through stop signs on quiet suburban neighborhoods where I can see the roads all around for 1/4 mile, but I will NEVER run a traffic lights.

Happy riding,
André