From a personal anecdote perspective, no I haven't been hit on the open road. I did have a minor crash in a congested traffic situation with a large number of cars flocking to a local air show.

You'll get differences in the data due to how and what gets reported (and reliable data about how much is ridden to determine exposure), but if you look at studies similar to this Federal Highway Safety Administration Study: http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/pedbike/...e/ctanbike.htm you'll find agreement with weasel's statement above.

For example, if you browse through the crash types listed:
-- "motorist overtaking, failed to detect", is a small percentage (1.3%) of the crashes they counted, but when these crashes happened, 54% had serious injuries or fatalities. They are correlated with higher speeds, more poor lighting than other crashes. Also proportionally more in rural areas.

-- In contrast, there are quite a few different scenarios involving intersections or turning, so if you arbitrarily pick "drive out at stop sign", you'll see higher percentages of crashes (9.3%) but much less with serious injuries or fatalities (10%). In similar fashion, a turning scenario, "bicyclist left turn in front of traffic" with 4.3% of crashes and 28% serious injuries or fatalities.

I agree with a comment related to Nancy's original premise in her question that people have a poor assessment of risks of bicycling out on the open road - and of the relative risks there vs. touring through a city with many more intersections and interactions. That isn't to say that those risks out in the countryside are completely zero, but I would think they are proportionally lower.

When touring I'll also try to lower my perceived risks. I'm normally a morning person anyways but one of the bigger things I like to do is get out on the road earlier and stop mid-afternoon if I can. It is sometimes colder, but this usually gives me plenty of time to find a place to stay - or alternative if my original place wasn't ok - while there was still daylight.