PeteHski

The stats would also be very different if you compared city vs rural riding. Where I happen to ride, being hit by a car turning in front of me is extremely unlikely. Being hit from behind however is a very real scenario. I've had countless near misses over the years. If you are an experienced rider, you soon get a good feeling for the potential dangers in your local area. Pretty much all our local fatalities have been from rear collisions.

DiabloScott

I gave a cycling safety presentation a few years ago and researched this also. What I recall is that car-bicycle collisions (enough for a police report) were about 30% right hook, 30% left hook, 30% riding on the wrong side of the street, and 10% hit from behind.

Bully4

I ride mostly the back roads. It seems to be human nature for a driver’s attention to wander. The blinking red light coupled with the garmin forewarning help. But, I have had my share of mirrors whiz by my shoulder. It seems that some are not a good judge of distance. I’ve also noticed the bravery of drivers in blasting into blind turns beside you. Not really hard to figure out where they will go if things get tight. Riding in town presents a totally different set of dangers.
I recall the different riding scenarios being rated by decisions per minute. I’m sure a rider in any city deals with many more decisions than I do.
Overall, extending courtesy to drivers does come back to you. Human nature is always a variable which cannot be predicted. I’m anticipating a good riding year once the snow melts. I wish the same for all!

rekmeyata

In 40 plus years of riding, I've never even remotely was put at risk for a rear end collision, thank God, but I think the odds are extremely low, probably less than 10th of one percent chance.

peterws

So sorry to say this, but I've never laughed so much in years. Still doin' it! Just dunno why."dribbling away in a nursing home" did it . . .
Say one for me!

Biker395 

I recall reading studies years ago the rear end collisions were quite rare. But that was long enough to be before cellphones and other distractions commonplace today. My guess is that they are not all that uncommon anymore, from what I see in the media about crashes here locally.

rekmeyata

I can't find any recent studies on rear-end bicycle accidents specifically, what I could find out is that bicycle fatality rates are up 9.2% as of 2020 from 1984. What that article didn't tell us was how many cyclists were riding in 1984 vs 2020, all I can find is the number of bikes sold, which of course won't include people who already owned bikes and didn't buy a new one. In 1984 there were 10.1 million bikes sold, in 2020 about 18.5 million bikes were sold, so that alone indicates an increase of over 8 million riders. What we do know is that as of 2020 there are about 52 million riders in the USA, so about 2.5 times the number of people are riding vs bikes bought, if that trend was the same back in 1984-time frame then that means about 25 million people were riding in the 1980s.

We are looking at roughly in increase of 100% in the number of riders since the 1980s, with only a 9% increase in rear end accidents, seems to point in the direction that rear end accidents have decreased, not increased since the 1980s.

I'll be the first to admit that I am NOT a math wizard, if anyone can see an error in my calculations, PLEASE correct it.

GhostRider62

So sorry for the loss of your friend. That is awful.

I have lost friends and buddies from motorcycles, skiing, falling off a pickup, car accidents, falls, ruptured aneurysm during a hockey game, etc. and quite a few cyclists and all were mowed down from behind. So, I am very cautious. Riding only on low traffic roads with a Varia and an Italian bar end mirror cycle. Traffic is low enough that I check every car to make sure it is giving me a little berth.

I took care of a loved one 24/7 in her last 2-3 years of life, she did not even recognize me. If I had the choice and were her, I would not wanted to be alive but that isn't really an option in that state of mind. I figure to start drinking and smoking cigars at 80 and go out that way.

Bully4

I have witnessed the slow demise of a family member as well. My heart goes out to you. Funny how it changes one’s thoughts about the future. It would be easy to retreat back into a shell of safety. I choose to hang it out there and take my chances. I use the same safety precautions as you. I spend a lot of my summer on two wheels. Never know what fate has in store for a person.

Best wishes!!

Bubbabiike

I’ve heard stories of trucker’s running cyclists off the road on purpose. They were overheard either planning it or bragging about it over the CB. Not sure I believe it, I know I don’t want to believe it.

john m flores 

My father lived for 11 years after a stroke took away his brilliant and baritone voice. The last two were bedridden with many emergency hospital visits. I asked him several times if he was ready to go but knowing his cognitive state, I could not trust the answer. My greatest fear is winding up in the same situation and am formulating a simple test that my loved ones can use to make that difficult decision. It will something along the lines of, "If I can't recite the alphabet and handle my own bowels, it's time for me to go."

smoore

I can understand how you feel. However, I'm not sure I'd want to leave my loved ones feeling the guilt of carrying out my wishes? Of course everyone responds differently to a difficult decision like that....but I'm not sure that's a burden I'd want to leave them with. However being bedridden for several years ain't no treat for them either. And if in a hospital, how do they interact with the doctors in that situation? Tough call for sure.

MoAlpha

Correct. "Going" is not an option for someone who is eating and drinking on their own and doesn't have a terminal condition one can opt not to treat. Homicide is a big ask.

fat biker

See, this is why this place is do great..
and the people here

pezce, sisters and brothers

fat biker

Road Fan

Must say, I have always wanted a Vincent Black Lightning! However, I'd also settle for a Norton! A Black Shadow would also do!

Calsun

American drivers tend to be a lot more aggressive and less accommodating of other vehicles on the road and it has gotten much worse over the years. Areas where it was safe to ride 40 years ago or even 20 years ago are now very dangerous for bicyclists. This is by design with the transportation "system" dominated by the motor vehicle and oil industries. Most highways lack a shoulder of any kind and many highways have been turned into freeways.

U.S. city streets have a third of their space dedicated to parking for cars making them more perilous for bicyclists. Schools are forced to pay for buses to bring children to school from kindergarten through high schoo as it is not safe for them to walk or bike to and from their homes. Recently 8 cities had their plans for light rail service killed by people in debt to the auto and oil industries. Unless one has traveled to Europe or Asia they do not realize how different it is in the USA.

MinnMan

Some grains of truth embedded in an otherwise over-generalized summary. Cycling safety and infrastructure in the US is as varied as the states themselves, with many communities having made great forward strides in the last two decades.

I spend a lot of time in Europe. In fact, I've been living in Germany this year. There's no question that many places in Europe are far ahead of most places in the states. But cyclists are killed on the road here also. I've also spent a fair amount of time in Asia, and I have yet to see an Asian country where cycling infrastructure is superior to that in the better US cities. in most asian countries I've visited, the cycling infrastructure and awareness is pretty low. I was in India earlier this month - there's no way I'd ride on roads there. Cities in Japan and China are for the most part, not bike friendly. The Chinese city in which bicycles outnumbered cars is a phenomenon of the distant past. I'm curious about which Asian countries you think are far superior to say, Portland, Minneapolis, S.F., New York, etc. for road cycling safety?

Bully4

I always think of Nicky Hayden. Motogp world champ about 15 years ago. He crashed motorcycles at 180mph but met a terrible demise on his bicycle. I'm not sure exactly where, possibly Italy.
I saw a picture of the bike which still gives me the chills. I've always figured that Europe would be more accommodating of bicycles. I think it just comes down to fate.
Hayden was a well liked figure in motorcycling. I actually saw him race at Mid-ohio.

MagnaRota

I don't believe many truckers would do it. But there are others who would.

I'm rarely on a road with motor vehicles, but when I am, I am dressed in a way that conceals my ethnic background from behind. I do not wish to give offense to any person or type of person, but I am a realist, and who is typically assaulting whom on the streets is also a reality.

Biker395 

I have the same reaction when I hear about how much better cycling safety is elsewhere than the US. It depends on where in the US and where "elsewhere" is. I've traveled abroad quite a bit over the last decade or so, and I've been lots of places as bad or worse than the worst in the US.