gholt

I haven't had an altercation with a car. There was one that sped up to pass me and then turned right. I fell over b/c I couldn't stop in time. Now I ride in the traffic and I haven't had this problem since. I ride about a 40 mile ride each day. About half is with cars and half is on remote roads. So, let your wife know that the benefits far outweigh the potential problem.

Just ride safe and be aware.

AStomper

Only accident I've been in was going down a grassy hill that had dew on it and crashing into a fence. Other than that the cagers yell and ***** if you aren't assertive about your right to use the road, but if you ride with confidence it keeps shouting to a minimum (maybe once a week I get "Get off the road"). Nothing thrown at me, lots of people slow to let me change lanes.

JohnBrooking

Five years almost every single day, 10 mile round trip = ~12,500 miles (not counting incidental travel). No car collisions, 1 near miss (within first month), 1/2 dozen solo crashes (mostly on ice).

But: Educate yourself! I recommend Street Smarts and Robert Hurst's book The Art of Urban Cycling. Safety is achievable, but it's not automatic.

JohnBrooking

If it is a right turn only lane, you should not be in it if you are going straight. Be in the right-hand part of the next lane over instead, or even in the center to hold your own place in line. If it is a shared right turn and straight through lane, stop in the middle to hold your place, or to be polite, in the left half, to allow right-turners to pass on your right. Move over to the right gradually as you pass through the intersection.

JohnBrooking

Hah, I just finished reading this thread and realized it's old and I already responded to it before!

Anyway, if it helps anyone else avoid this, my one close call was that I was turning left opposite a bunch of cars also turning left (so we were passing each other on our right), when a car came out from behind the line of left-turners opposite me and zoomed straight through the intersection, causing me to endo as I braked hard to stop. Lessons learned: (1) Watch out for cars pulling out from behind other cars, and (2) learn how to brake hard without endo'ing. Check, and check.

So, OP, how are you doing and how is wife your feeling about it?

Dr_Robert

I hit a stopped car one time because I wasn't paying attention. Totally my fault.

I've never been hit, though I've had 2-3 close calls (generally when people pull out in front of me).

Nobody's ever thrown anything at me.

I've had plenty of solo crashes, none serious, and almost all because I did something stupid (hey guys, watch this...).


That's in 10-15 years of riding, at least part time, for recreation and transportation.

-DR

Novakane 

I've been bicycle commuting in some form or another since before I was double digits. At first it was next door, then down the street, then town to town, now on busy roads getting to work and back every day.
I've had more real close calls with cars while a pedestrian on foot than while on my bike, and I've ridden on back roads, dirt roads, minor highways, downtown streets, MUPs, offroad, dirt tracks, rush-hour major roads, you name it, I'll ride a bike on it. lol
I can honestly say 95% of any danger I've been in was my own fault being a jack-*** and every single wipeout I've had falls into that category.

Keep your wits about you, enjoy the ride and pay attention when playing in traffic and you'll probably be just fine.

a bit racialist

I commute to work now, commuted to and from class in college, and I haven't been involved in a bike wreck since I was 15 (and that one involved a complete misunderstanding of the laws of physics while biking in the snow).

This may be a condition of living in the liberal, semi-urban enclave of Arlington, VA, but I never have much trouble with traffic. Drivers generally give me a good deal of space while passing, even when I'm in the bike lane. (At the same time, I'm able to keep up with or pass some of the cars due to traffic). As long as you 1. let drivers know you're there, and 2. don't trust anyone in a car, you'll be fine. You have a greater risk of dying in a car wreck than in a bike wreck, and I'm sure you're wife doesn't want you to stop driving anytime soon.

Never had anything thrown at me, and the only close calls I've had were due to cabbies or my own foolishness on the MUP.

Kotts

A couple of close passes and some rudeness (a lot less that there was 25-30 years ago).

No vehicle accidents, unless you want to count me running into a parked car while girlwatching on campus (about 28 years ago).