Quite safe - relative to being hit by a car. There is still potential for serious injury with those other scenarios you have listed.

I may have over-reacted just a tad. (ya think?) Now I'm looking at this tragedy as a reminder to be careful and pay extra close attention to my surroundings, because not doing so... could be fatal.

Tempe ... is that a tough town for cyclists?

I hear different things about Arizona.

generally, no, it's a great place for cyclists-- we just had two fatalities within a few weeks and that's kind of shocking for this place.

No, not as far as infrastructure. The metro area is getting better all the time. In fact, Arizona ranked at 7th for bicycle friendly state. And Tempe ranked at 30th for bicycle friendly cities. We have 3 cities in the top 50.

Now, that means nothing if the drivers inhabiting these cities are a$$holes, and in that, we have no shortage. I don't look at much television but every other commercial is for a D.U.I. attorney. And I swear, the entire message of these commercials for people that have been arrested for DRIVING DRUNK is that THEY ARE THE VICTIMS. I'm telling you, sometimes we live in a bass ackwards society.

A very disturbing thing about Arizona is that we put crosses up at the location of fatal accidents. Most will have flowers, candles and balloons... a little makeshift memorial. And often times a sign next to the picture of the victim that will say... "My son was killed by a DRUNK driver".

Scott

I Agree with Rando. Tempe is pretty safe and friendly towards cyclists. I changed my commute to take me through Tempe even though it was a longer route than my previous one that went through Mesa (not cyclist friendly) for safety concerns. I've managed to find an 11-mile route that takes me mostly through residential areas with bike lanes or along a canal. Both of which are very safe. Unfortunately, I have to go through 11 busy intersections. At that point I ignore traffic lights and assume everyone has a green light.

I just wanted to say that you should get life insurance, if you're the sole breadwinner for your family. That scenario is pretty much what life insurance is for, and you should take it seriously.

That's a good point. The commuting forum ends up being therapy for many people just because for most of us, this is the only place where we can find fellow bike commuters. So it does tend to over-accumulate horror stories, to the point that an outsider would think that bike commuting is a total disaster. People don't post much about the good stuff, which is a shame.

Just to try to even out the stats, during my last commute all the drivers were courteous, everybody yielded to me at the stopsigns, no squirrels attempted to kill me, the air was clear, I got to do some off-road on the way home from work, and I had a lovely time.

To the OP - good luck with your decision. +1 on the life insurance - good idea whether you're riding or not. You'd hate to quit riding just to get flattened by a falling piano.

It's kinda like the one about the blonde who read that 2/3 of all accidents happen within 3 miles of home... so she moved.

Seeing/hearing about someone doing what you do, and they die from it, will shake anybody up. But in a state of emotional agitation is the worst time to decide. Take time out, get calm and rational, when the feelings DON'T rise back up, then make your choice.

Yeah. I know someonre that died during sex, so I think I'd better stop that.

I'm sorry, the whole concept of stopping something because of something that may happen is just absurd and not worthy of three pages of posts.

That was a pretty grim thing that Mr. IGH said last page. But it made me think:

"If it were me who was killed, what would I want done, here and elsewhere?"

I decided that the answer is this: I'd want everyone to be sad that I'm gone, just for a bit. Then, I'd want my wife taken care of. Then, I'd want my cyclist friends here to know the details of the situation so they could learn from it, and hopefully not suffer the same fate. Whether it was my fault or the motorists', I'd want you guys to know. If it were my fault and I did something stupid, you all would maybe be less upset, but would keep in mind not to do that stupid thing, and you'd remember it more clearly. If it were the motorists' fault, you'd have one more specific scenario to watch for. Either way, you'd all learn from it and hopefully be 1% less likely as a whole to suffer this fate.

It seems insensitive to some, but the way I see it, there's a bright side to everything. (even if it isn't that bright)

The original details were that he was hit by a car. The question is why. Was it because he blew a stop sign without checking closely enough? Did the motorist blow the light? Or did they both blow a stop sign? Did the car left turn into him after not seeing him?

Maybe it is too soon and we should all be mourning. But since most of us didn't know him personally, the best we can do is offer condolensces, feel bad, and try to learn from it.

Any chance of getting these details rando?

Does anyone stop driving / riding in a motor vehicle because they heard of a local collision that was fatal?

What would the world look like if everybody took each car fatality as seriously as rando took the bicycle fatality.

34,000 a year in America!

yea, I was just going to mention automobile fatalities. People seem to except those without worrying about themselves getting killed.. I got hit by a an out of control car and it wouldn't have mattered what I did, I still would have been hit (drivers fault), thought my time was up (can still see the car wobbling towards me at speed) but leapt out of the way just in time! I made sure I got on the bike as soon as possible, just like riding a horse, you've got to get back or the fear in your mind will eventually make it impossible. Still freak out a bit at the sound of screeching tires and I'm really, really careful but I'm not going stop living out of fear. Like JeremyZ said if I was killed i'd want others to either learn from it, be more careful but not to stop cycling. Life is too short anyway, live it.

Based on that stat, over 90 people die per day in the U.S. in car accidents. Wonder how that compares to bicycle risk?
My take: people tend to overestimate the probability of rare events (this is why lottery tickets and Powerball are popular) like getting killed on airplane (or a bicycle, for that matter).

If you feel too scared to ride, then don't ride. But, chances are, you'll be safe. So, if you like to ride, go for it and be careful!

Not sure if it's been covered but have you thought about switching up your route? Maybe there are a some options that might keep you out of heavy traffic. Although, now that I think about it, residential side streets are nearly as dangerous.

Let's go for a neighborhood ride Randy! You live less than a mile from me.

Get term life insurance.

I lost my friend Bruce when he apparently made a left turn at the end of a long bike ride without seeing an oncoming car.

It shook me up and my wife didn't want me to ride for a while. I'm back to bike commuting fairly often, but I also make more time for my family.

I hate to hear about cyclists being hurt or killed, but I do want to know how I can learn from what happened, and tell my loved ones how to learn from what happened, too. But I hate the tone of some of the posts about cyclists doing dumb crap and getting killed. Everyone here does dumb crap all the time; we just don't usually die of it. I've done a lot of dumb crap, but I was lucky and I lived. I wish people could be more generous when they're talking about mistakes and the loss of life.

Yeah.

Only the OP can judge the relative safety of his route on bike vs driving. But while that stuff is always scary, it is, I've personally known 0 people who have been killed on a bike, and 1 person very close to me who was killed by a drunk driver driving the wrong way on an interstate without their headlights on.

If you have kids, you should stop and consider your safety with what you're doing - just don't overestimate the safety of the alternatives just because you're not doing them right now (cycling might be safer based on your route, or it might not be, I cannot say personally). Certainly, if you're concerned it wouldn't hurt to consider how you can do whatever you're doing in a safer manner (lights, riding behavior, route, etc).

hehe, well to be fair though I'm not married and don't have kids, I wouldn't do anything different than I'm doing now - I'm already being as safe as possible without it being crippling.

Here in New York City they have taken to putting up ghost bikes at the locations of fatal cycling accidents. I pass far too many on my 24 mile each way commute. Really makes you think. I believe this retrospection has not only made me a safer rider but also a safer driver. I am routinely shocked at the chances, cyclists, drivers and pedestrians take in this city. Must be something in the water.

I believe your concern will also make you a safer rider. I also think you may be experiencing a sense of your own mortality which would only be natural. Take a break. Give healing a chance.