TakingMyTime

I have seen 3 riders down on the bike paths in my area (I'm talking ambulance down). I've never seen that on a public road.

zonatandem

You may also consider to quit eating as some people die from food poisoning . . .

Ball Bearing

I mitigate the risks by making myself extremely visible - hi vis, Designshine DS500, front flasher and riding in a way that does not piss off drivers.

bobwysiwyg

Yup!

crazyb

Didn't say I was going to quit cycling, just the venue. I will continue to ride my bicycle.

crazyb

I do avoid McDonalds

MinnMan

It is interesting to compare accident statistics for roads versus trails.

It would also be interesting to know how statistics compare between cycling and outdoor running. Seems like running should be safer, but I don't have any numbers to back that up.

(Unless of course, one counts damage to the knees....)

NYMXer

I'm sorry to say that I have, more than once within the past year and I've only been riding 2 weeks shy of a year. Of course, those accidents were part of large group rides that our club does at least 4 times a week, sometimes 5. So 4 rides a week times 200+ members times about 36 weeks of riding and you will get a few injuries. Probably true with any sport.

The sad truth is that you can take all the precautions you want, but a bad inattentive driver can still get you. MUP's are more dangerous IMHO and then you have Mtb riding, pretty dangerous too unless you go very easy on the trails.

You got to live life and not worry and fear what might happen. I want to live life and will continue to ride on the roads, trails and paths. Should something hurt me, or I hurt myself then that is apart of life too.

ButchA

Hey @10 Wheels, how have you been?

Is that you on the left in that strange looking contraption?

BadBurrito

I'm with the OP. I've known 2 riders personally that were killed by trucks on the road (seperate incidents). I've known personally a rider that was so seriously injuried they needed bone grafts when hit by a inattentive driver. I personally have had numerous close calls, not kinda close, real close, as in an inch or less.

We have become a world of self absorbed cell phone addicts who still driver with their cell phones glued to their hand. There are way more distracted drivers now than there were 5-10 years ago. And it will only get worse. I don't see how it will change.

I prefer the bike trail. at least if another biker hits me (which has happened) it's low speed, and not a 2 tom mass of steel.

but I respect those who have the coconuts to ride with the cars and trucks, you're braver than me.

Be safe as you can my friends. You think it's all up to you, but it's not, there is someone right now, texting as they drive.

tarwheel 

I've cut back on my recreational road riding but I still bike commute on urban/suburban streets when the weather permits. Most of my recreational riding these days is on greenways and trails, rather than fast group rides. I've seen more cyclists injured in crashes during group rides than being hit by cars. That said, cycling like almost any activity has inherent risks. You do what you can to minimize or prevent risks, but who wants to live in a bubble? You also can get hurt riding on greenways, trails and other locations away from vehicles. I've been bike commuting nearly 10 years and approaching 40,000 miles, and so far have avoided injury doing that -- but I take a lot of precautions.

I find it ironic that so many people consider cycling on roads as so dangerous yet they think nothing about driving all over the place. More people die in car crashes than just about any other activity. Although car bodies, seatbelts and airbags provide some level of protection, your chances still aren't too great if you're in a head-on collision or high-speed crash.

10 Wheels

Nope That is Sharon.Her GTO has 81 gears and she can hold 25 MPH.

ButchA

Wow!!! Those recumbents look comfortable. One part bicycle, one part laz-e-boy recliner!

bobwysiwyg

They do at that. Virtually all my cycling is right next to vehicles going 50-70 mph. At first this was VERY intimidating. Now it's just intimidating. I doubt I could ever get use to being that low relative to surrounding vehicles. My hat's off to her.

10 Wheels

The Flag and Strobe Light help much for your safety.

bobwysiwyg

I'm sure they do. I'm a fan of "you can never be to visible." Always blinking lights fore and aft, highly visible clothing and helmet. I think my fear of being that low is all mental. Should I ever consider it, I get some therapy first.

AlexCyclistRoch

And almost always those wrecks were caused by another cyclist, either from being inattentive, or on occasion because of a poorly-maintained bike.

Biker395 

+1 Hands down, most of the recent injuries I'm aware of have been group riding in pacelines. It seems like one goes down every week. Nuts to that.

I commute by bike most days, with 80% on Class I and II bike paths and about 20% on quiet side streets. Those days I have to drive, I am astounded at how much more dangerous it driving LA freeways are ... particularly during that time interval between free flowing traffic and congestion ... when the traffic is such that people should start reducing their speed, but no one does.

Most of my non-commuting riding is on mountainous roads. There's so little traffic, and I keep an eye on all of it with my mirror. So long as I have an escape route, I don't worry about it too much.

BluesDawg

Do whatever works for you. For me, I'm not letting the terrorists win.

cccorlew

MUPS cross roads. I met a truck crossing on a MUP. The bike was destroyed and I almost miraculously was only badly injured.

I still ride as I think it's safer than staying on the couch.

glenncz

I'm fortunate to have good access to hundreds of miles of rural 2 lane roads. The problem is most have no shoulder, I try to stay close to the white line and if I can hear a car coming, get even closer. 2 riskier situations. Oncoming car and car in your lane pass at the same time you are there. Driver in your lane doesn't have room to move over. Other problem is you hear a car behind you, he passes, and you relax a bit and maybe move over, but 2nd car is coming and 2nd car may not have seen you because of 1st car in front of him.

Most of my roads are windy and my philosophy is the driver has to pay attention to staying on the road and would have difficulty texting, although I don't deny many try. I feel most uncomfortable going through traffic light intersections, esp where I have to turn and esp if they are 4 lane. Too much going on, I'm extra careful. I don't bother with mirrors anymore, because I figure there is not much more I can do but stay to the right as far as possible.

I try to get out as early as possible for most of my miles, before 6am is good. Huge difference between 6am and 5pm with traffic. Sunday early am's are the absolute best! I spend time in laying out all my routes beforehand, always trying to find least trafficked routes, which I am lucky to have many miles of. And I'm not afraid to put bike on rack and drive up to about 20 minutes to start.

wished

Seeing as how staying on the bike more often will really prevent being one of those 610,000 that die from heart disease then it's worth the risk to me to keep rolling along . . .

Daniel4

https://journalistsresource.org/studies/environment/transportation/comparing-fatality-risks-united-states-transportation-across-modes-time#

As someone already mentioned over 30 thousand motorists die every year in the US. Compare that with 6000 cyclists and pedestrians combined. As I mentioned in another post, I haven't heard of any motorist giving up driving knowing the fatality rate of driving.

Joe Minton

Look Like a Clown!

I ride on the street and whenever I ride, I wear a bright yellow or green shirt, long sleeved as often as not.
I wear either a bright green or yellow helmet.
Bright blinking lights front and rear.
I have and use a mirror. I have a bell; I can yell Really Loud.
Being retired, I mostly avoid going-to-work times as drivers are utterly crazed, selfish and just plain stupid when they're driving to work. They are even worse when taking their kids to school, on the way to work!?

In general, where I live anyhow, drivers are courteous, play by the rules and are both patient and friendly. I return the favors by doing the same; I try to stay out of their (faster) way as much as is safe and only 'take the lane' when I have to, they seem to understand this.

However:
There seems to be a growing use of cell phones while driving, especially amongst young girls/women. One of these creatures put me down the better part of three years ago; broken collar bone, two ribs and destroyed helmet. I still 'click' when I stretch my right arm back.
The young boys/men drive like they are racing, just as they have since horse&buggy days. My mother got tied to the clothes line (so she couldn't get out of the yard) on Saturday when the cowboys came to town.

Joe

Finally and again: Wear bright single color shirts. Fit a bright tail light and consider hypervigilance as a hobby ;o)

moth54

My intuition is that comparing accident stats on driving with accident stats on bikes doesn't yield as much useful information as one might suppose. We'd have to spend much longer considering why vehicles are involved in accidents, before comparing the accident rate of motorized vehicles to that of bikes.

One thing that springs to mind is the range of activities and goals covered by motorized transport. Although both motorized vehicles and bikes are methods of transportation, one doesn't really seriously consider a bike as transportation if one is in the trades (plumbing, homebuilding) or if one is transporting large quantities of goods, from food supplies to supermarkets to household goods to spare parts for heavy equipment to fuel oil. In countries with vast rural areas (vast certainly as compared to, say, the Netherlands) groups of school children are transported to class by motorized vehicle. Politicians and sales people can cover vast territories.

All of which can effect the nature and type of movements spanned when one is in a motorized vehicle versus a bike. When one is out doing deliveries - far more likely to be the case with motorized transport - one is performing a lot of interchanging between operating one's transport and being a pedestrian, or, if one is delivering people, interchanging between the style of movement that is commuting, versus drawing up to the destination to allow delivery. The behaviours involved are quite complex. So comparing accident rates is not as simple as just comparing a motorized greyhound on a track, versus a dog peddling down the track. (Boy is that a great visual!)

So, analyzing traffic accidents is a lot more than about just noting whether the vehicles were motorized or not.

In my bailiwick, the relative density of traffic on bike paths is much lower than on the roads - this alone prompts me to use the bike paths. This lower density situation on bike paths is evidently is not the case for many people here, and so they make a different choice.

OP, the point of riding is to relax and enjoy - and one must decide for oneself where one feels most relaxed.