Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
From my memory about the DOT data, I believe you are incorrect about the summary for type of accidents including injury only accidents. The links to the actual data on the MassBike site that you referenced are kaput.
Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps you are. I realize now that the links for the Mass Bike site are broken. But you are working from memory. Even at that, the frequency of direct rear end collisions is still low, your paranoia not withstanding.
Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Fine, you don't consider a motorist who comes from behind and "merges" into a bicyclist as an overtaking accident. Neither does John Forester, by doing so it helps him keep the incidence of "wrong" type of accidents down, what's your agenda?
I have no agenda, other than to point out that people plan for an accident scenario that of a low frequency while failing to plan for an accident scenario that is of a much higher frequency, i.e. lots of rear light and very little forward light, relatively speaking. A very bright forward light (~10 times what the current batch of LED flashlights put out) would also go a long way towards keeping people from right hooking or merging into cyclist.
I am not, nor have I ever been, a believer in Forester's stuff. I know from your past posts that he's your red flag but I'm not waving it.
What's your agenda? Do you use a cannonball above your pop gear or just downriggers?
Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Again, I believe you are in error about this summary of accident scenarios.
That's not what I see on this site about what these "statistics" include. Where is there any association of injuries with crash type/location (overtaking, left turn, intersection, sidewalk, etc.)?
And of course none of these "statistics" are evaluated for the exposure of the cycling population to the various scenarios. i.e. Road cyclist are seldom exposed to suidewalk collisions; sidewalk/bike path/bike lane cyclists may have much less exposure to overtaking accidents.
The Mass Bike site is only a summary and has dead links. You certainly can't expect such detail in a summary.
Road cyclists are certainly exposed to driveway and intersection accidents with similar frequency as sidewalk/MUP riders. Bike lane users would have about the same frequency of overtaking accidents as road riders. But then I don't categorize cyclists as either road users or MUP users. I don't ride exclusively on either and, I suspect, neither do most riders. At least not from what I see here.