I've been cycling on and off road and mountain bike for a few years, and lately after speaking to one of my riding buddies he dropped that statement on me. Having biked for a decent amount of time I've had my share of spills but all of them were due to operator error.

I'll be frank, I'd hate to see the sheer faces of guilt on my family members if I have to tell them what happened after, and previously I thought that there was a very good possibility of not only not dying, but also never having to even contact a vehicle at all if I kept with cycling as a sport for life.

Is this sentiment valid to a reasonable extent? Everyone's situation, area, and riding habits are different, but should I expect to eventually meet some cage as collateral for the enjoyment I get out of this?

I don't think it's inevitable, but even if it happens, so what?

I've been cycling seriously (commute round trips as long as 70 miles) in serious traffic (mostly Atlanta, some in Phoenix) for almost 25 years, averaging a few thousand miles a year. I've never been hit by a car. I have been honked at, cursed, buzzed, spit upon, and had beer bottles tossed at me.

In the same period I've had three accidents serious enough to worry my wife. (One broken collar bone, and one time requiring stitches in my knee.) The broken collar bone was due to a car buzzing too close and forcing me into the curb (and then onto the pavement). The other two were completely my fault.

When your time is up, it is up no matter what you are doing at the time. May as well be enjoying yourself until it happens and not dwell on it.

Yes, but it's discouraging listening to other enthusiasts/bike commuters around who me seem to just spew off their incident reports when my experiences make it out to be relatively tame. Have to decide what living means for ourselves really.

I agree. I've been biking for more than just a 1.5 mile commute for the last 9 months or so. I've already been hit once, even though people here are generally good about cyclists. Contrary to my expectation, it was not during bad weather or heavy traffic or anything like that. I was in a bike lane with right of way, headlight on, yellow vest, on a bright sunny day, when a truck pulled out of a side road from a stop sign. Luckily I saw him moving, slammed on the brakes, and only got the front part of my wheel hit. The person was very apologetic, paid for my new wheel, and I was only somewhat shaken up. But still, even under the best of circumstances, these sorts of things happen.

The vast majority of cyclists ride for a lifetime without a motor vehicle accident. Even if we reduce the set to only high mileage active road cyclists, it's still if and now when.

Then if we discount minor MVAs, such as hooks with no or minor injuries, the odds for lifetime safe cycling get more favorable yet.

No matter how you measure, bicycling is a safe activity. This is recognized by life insurers who offer their best rates to bicyclists, while denying them to participants in many other sports. There have even been studies showing that not cycling is more dangerous (based on life expectancy) than cycling.

So, yes, it's not if but when you'll die, but odds favor it taking longer if you're an active cyclist.

It's not if you get hit a car, but when.

I don’t understand that comment about your family’s guilt if you keep riding.

I’m so safety-focused that I wear two rear view mirrors besides everything else, but I got hit two years ago; in a hospital for about six weeks, off work for three months and off the bicycle for five months. My family and friends were concerned, but totally supportive. I now still continue to cycle-commute 14 mile to work, and last Saturday I rode 63 miles. That’s my best answer.

I've had two automobile-involved crash in about 8 years of heavy bike commuting. Both were right hooks -- one I flipped my bike and sprained both elbows avoiding the car, one I ran into the car. Both of them were within the first year, and I have a pretty good idea how I could have better anticipated the accident (and probably avoided it) by paying more attention to the situation around me. That doesn't mean I think I'll never have another crash involving an automobile, but I do think I'm safer now than when I was a newbie.

As for whether or not it's inevitable, I like this link:

https://cyclehelmets.org/1026.html

It's well known that you can lie with statistics. One of my favorite statistical lies is to look at the second chart on that link and claim that I'm six times safer when I'm on the bike ["Bicycling" = 0.26 fatalities per million hours] than when I'm not on the bike ["Living (all causes of death)" = 1.53 fatalities per million hours]. That's a lie, of course, but it does put the relative risk in some perspective. It also gives you a good excuse to introduce the health benefits of cycling into the safety discussion.

I also like that cycling, while apparently not quite as safe as golf, is pretty close and is not nearly as dangerous as tennis.

I've been hit. I can't say I'd like to repeat the experience, but in my case, the injuries were minor. I was out of work for a week, simply because the doc imposed lifting restrictions, and my job description states I have to be able to lift and carry 50 pound totes of books. The motorist took his ticket, and his insurance paid everything in full with no quibbles, including my salary for the time off.

While I don't think it's inevitable, insurance industry figures claim the average motorist goes seven years between accidents. If it's considered normal for motorists to crash into each other every seven years, it's fairly reasonable to assume we could get hit too.

I continue to ride defensively to do my best to avoid being hit, and I try to live each day as if it was my last, just in case.

And this number is not for accidents you're at fault for - it's for any accident. One minor fear for me is waiting at a traffic light and being hit from behind. Over the past 15 years, I've been in a car (twice as driver, once as passenger) hit from behind while stopped for a traffic light, traffic backup, or to make a turn. Two of those times the other driver just wasn't paying attention. One time the driver at least had the excuse that wet leaves make stopping going down a hill harder. All three times it was over $4k in damage. I wonder what kind of damage that sort of collision would cause to a bicyclist.

Statistically speaking aren't you most likely to have an accident within 3 miles of your home. Therefore you should go on longer rides (or don't go home )

That's just kind of the nature of American streets. Automobiles crash into each other all the time. That's about how much Americans care about driving safely. They have other priorities like driving better drunk than you do sober, sexting, and getting a little pregame action in while taking the kids to the birthday party at the bumper car rink. And that's a good thing. It shows individualism, freedom, and that bonafide American frontier spirit.

If you're gonna ride your bicycle on those streets it is just a matter of time before you get hit. Some guys will win the lottery and never get hit but not most of us. Does that mean you're gonna get destroyed? No. You'll probably get a little rash and some sore joints. It'll hurt a bit. But most of the car vs bike accidents I've seen didn't end up with broken bones or ambulance rides to the ER.

So don't stress it too much. And remember that it won't be much fun for your family if you need a triple bypass either.

Maybe not. You could die from some awful and unexpected illness.... or maybe from a statistically more likely... household accident. But rest assured... life itself... is always fatal.

I actually hit a car once (completely my own fault)... and came very close to hitting another not long ago. I took a fall while riding on a MUP a couple years ago too... banged me up kind'a bad... but I healed. Accidents are part of commuting.... and blood is part of all sports... cycling included.

So are cycling accidents inevitable? What if they are. Life is for the living. Even if you could shield yourself from the pain of being alive wouldn't you also be shielding yourself from the joy that is life?

Last car vs bike accident I had *I* actually hit the car. I was approaching an intersection and the driver of a minivan was looking right at me while at a stop sign on my right on the cross street. He looked at me and we made eye contact and then he pulled out right in front of me very slowly. I screeched to a halt - literally my disc brakes were howling - and came to a stop bumping his door and came up over the bars and damn near hit the driver in the face with my helmet through his open windows.

If you're an avid rider chances are for most of us it's WHEN and not IF, however how bad the accident is that is different. It may be a slightly close call that could of been far worse - as in my case above - or a total wreck.

Regardless it's dangerous to ride with traffic but we gotta do it, so keep safe, wear protective gear and watch out like a hawk.

I've never hit a car or been hit by a car and don't plan to. I use a mirror constantly, and know where cars are in relation to me, and keep my distance. I know other riders who have ridden for decades and never been hit by a car.

I've also known guys who don't stop at almost any stop lights or stop signs (had some friends in the legal courier business), who cut cars off whenever possible, and who got hit rather regularly. A good month involved no visits to the emergency room.

It all depends on the way you ride.

This year a lady pulled out in front of me turning left from a stop sign. I hit her right behind the driver's side door handle. Lucky for me and not for her, I was driving my SUV that day and blew out her rear windows and crushed her car without hurting anyone seriously. It was the first time I've been in an accident in 25 years bike or not. It's all a serious of strange timing events for it to happen. I took off late from work because I was going to pick up kid's after practice. Had I left at normal time I wouldn't have been there. If there wasn't 2 lanes of traffic she wouldn't have pulled out from the sign and snaked through one lane to pull out into mine. The best you can do is stay vigilant and give yourself some extra luck in avoiding others mistakes.

I face planted last year on my bike after catching a curb. That was on me.

I have been riding on streets since 1988 and have never had an accident with a car however I have had 2 accidents riding MUP'S, neither very serious. The motorcycle people say the same thing and many riders go a lifetime without an accident. However if you are really concerned about riding on streets don't do it. I have a friend who is afraid of riding on streets and the few times I have seen him ride he is very unpredictable and a hazard to himself and others.

I consider quality of life to be far more important than quantity. If I do live to be an old man, I'm going to be one of those super-fit old men that wakes up at 6 and hikes or bikes up a mountain before breakfast. Staying fit and happy is totally worth the "risk".

I don't know much about statistics, but at 61 years of age and riding for 40 or more years, plus being a close observer of my cycling friends, I'm convinced that:

1. Bicycling is extremely safe, especially when compared to a couch-potato lifestyle and its associated chronic illness
2. Collisions with cars are very, very rare. Among all my cycling friends that I actually ride with: None. Me? One bump, not serious, in 60,000 or so miles over 4+ decades. The activity of bicycling is just not dangerous - or at least not in my experience, which I consider extensive. Yeah, we all know stories, but . . .
3. Cyclists attract women (ok, off-topic - )
4. If I am gonna die, I would prefer to do so as a cyclist on two wheels rather than a enfeebled disease-ridden easy-chair hugger. Therefore even if I did believe it was dangerous, and being hit by a car was inevitable, I would likely still do it.

OP, with proper technique and a watchful eye, I think "eventually meet some cage as collateral for the enjoyment I get out of this?" (your quote) is not likely. But, like I said, I speak not from statistics but only from personal experience.

I think most riders will not have a physical run in with a car. I think that most regular commuters in an urban area will have a run in with a car.

I personally have had two minor one. One was my fault the other was a mild right hook.

I have crashed more on my own though, with more pain. No breaks though.

I agree it is all about quality of life. I am happy and healthy. I will bike until I physically can not.

10 years and 32,000 miles here, never come close to being hit.

I have had a dozen or so OPPORTUNITIES to be hit; right hooks, left crosses, oncoming drivers pulling into my lane to pass, cross street pullouts, etc, but I saw them all coming in plenty of time and corrected for their errors.

Skill has a huge effect on likelihood of a collision. Ride more, get more skill, and become safer.

People think cycling is extremely dangerous because their minds jump to worst case scenario, not likely scenario. I believe cycling is safer per-trip than car riding, but I can't find the citation for that.

Oh, and I was hit by a car, head-on, way back in 1982. It was pretty bad in that I do not remember the impact or the ambulance ride. My bike was mangled, and my Bell Biker helmet was visibly damaged. I can't say for sure if I received any long term brain injuries, but I'm doing OK. Other than that, I was just bruised and lacerated, no bones broken. I was back on the bike in about four weeks.

I was 21 years old at the time. My father was very upset, as he believed cycling is dangerous. I was very heartened when he told me to get back on the bike ASAP. He said this because he knew it was important to me, and he knew that waiting longer would make it scarier. When I did get back on the bike, I was indeed scared, and going slowly felt too fast. Of course, I've recovered from that problem. I am the fastest descender I know, at the age of 53.

I think it's a rather stupid attitude to assume that you'll inevitably be hit by a car while cycling. I've been cycling more than 40 years and I've never been hit. Since the year 2000, I've cycling 97,000+ plus miles -- mostly on the road -- without getting hit.

That said, I am not surprised that some cyclists do get hit by cars. Many cyclists use no common sense and flaunt traffic laws. I see cyclists very often riding in the dark or low-light conditions wearing dark clothing and no lights (or just a dim blinkie). Many cyclists wear jerseys/jackets that blend right into the road, apparently thinking it nerdy to wear bright clothes. Many cyclists run red lights, go the wrong way on one-way streets, and ride as if they think they have a protective shield around them.

While commuting, I usually wear jerseys/jackets/vests that are high-viz yellow. I always ride with my headlights and taillights on in traffic. For recreational rides, I have a collection of brightly colored jerseys. Given my track record, I am inclined to believe that my visibility has made a difference. I also ride very defensively, always assuming that drivers don't see me, which has prevented accidents on a number of occasions.