Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
All depends on what you define as "very small", also the risk is determined also by the actual exposure, i.e.what percentage of cyclists' riding time is in a position where they are exposed to being hit by overtaking traffic such as riding in traffic lanes?
Also depends on how narrowly you want to define "overtaking accidents".
Do you choose to exclude from overtaking accidents motorists who are driving in the same direction and "turn or merge" into the path of a bicyclist?
The above is not for just fatalities but for all reported accidents to the USDOT. Yes, I would consider 9% (rounding up) to be a small number compared to the other modes.
I would not consider a right hook to be the same as being hit from behind. Yes, the car has overtaken the bicycle but no amount of lighting or reflective material will stop a motorist from preforming this kind of maneuver (lighting being the original point of the thread). The motorist has either already seen your lights and chosen to ignore them or they missed them entirely.
Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Do you take at face value as the stated cause in 100% of the fatal accidents where the bicyclist is said (by the surviving motorist) to have merged or turned in front of the overtaking blameless motorist/witness?
Considering that the statistics are for all reported accidents and not just fatalities, I take them at face value. The
data, from what I can gather, is based on 698 fatalities and 43,000 injuries. That's a pretty good number of 'nondead' witnesses riding bikes
I have no idea where you got the idea that I see the motorist as blameless, either. Any kind of overtaking accident or, for that matter, more than half of the modes of accidents reported were the fault of the motorist.