A life lived in fear is not a life lived. Be aware and be safe but also be bold in what you do.

On my drive in the car I commute on a roadway, divided highway, where there have been regular vehicle crossovers resulting in head-on collisions. The state then put in a cable barrier, but the vehicle crossovers continue with some cars managing to get past the cables and still getting to the other side. There is little to nothing I can do about it apart from avoiding that portion of freeway while in my car. So instead I just continue to use that roadway.

I can't control what other people do. I also ride motorcycles and have had people nearly hit me in broad daylight in plain sight while I was right in front of their face but their mind was focused on something else. Real interesting to be able to actually see them "wake up" when they come to realize that something just magically appeared into their consciousness (sp?). And there ain't a dang thing you can really do about it.

I've nearly been hit while walking in a crosswalk crossing a street with the light, or have had cars buzz me close enough that I could bang their fender with my fist. There ain't a dang thing you can do to prevent an aggressing impatient driver from acting rudely or irresponsibly.

I just picked up a copy of the book "Bicycling and the law" (ISBN-13: 978-1-931382-99-1) which looks to be a good book. The book won't do a thing to help me control what other people do, but will give me some additional tools and perspectives relative to the various situations I will encounter as my bicycle commuting and riding pics up once the weather breaks here.

You do what you gotta do, nothing is 100% safe, don't be stupid, but also don't live in fear. The more of us that ride, the more awareness that the car driving public will be forced to have. Ride responsibly and hope that the drivers drive responsibly as well. And then invite the co-worker on a bicycle ride and suggest that they look into cycle commuting as well.