These question can only be answered on average. The averaged probability values would be completely and utterly useless and meaningless when applied to specific person riding in a specific area under specific circumstances.

It is not different than calculating the average body temperature in a hospital: people on the third floor run high fever, people in the morgue are cold, so on average everything is fine...

The only possible way to estimate your personal risk would be to base it on your personal parameters: where you ride, when you ride and how you ride. It makes very little sense to ask such question here. I'd say a better idea would be to go to your regional forum, find people who ride in your area and see what they think about riding the routes you ride.

I'm happy with only being nailed by women since I was 14 or so, thank you...but hey, whatever smokes yer shorts, pilgrim. :D

Only hit once lmao,,that is all it takes to end your life,,,lol But I am like you been riding for 53 years,,and I got hit once lol 2 years ago,,,,I am more carefull,,some drivers think you should not be on the rode and they will hit you,,I noticed some woman around where i drive will see you,,then turn their heads act as if they didnt see you and will keep driving even if you have the right away,,if you dont stop,,you are getting hit.

The risk is probably way higher here in the states than in Europe or Canada where people have respect for others on a bike.

Well, I got hit by a truck twice in the same week not too long ago. I am the statistical outlier I guess :|

Stop making assumptions and look up the facts. Don't generalise about Europe, either, the stats vary from one country to another.

Are you speaking from personal experience, or vague impressions based on something you heard or saw on TV once long ago?

You can die or be injured by any number of things. Some can be expected and some not. All you can do is try to use your smarts to avoid them.
The bottom line for me is I’d rather do something I love like cycling, even if there is a small risk, than hide in my house. Which, if I think about it, I’ve been injured more doing things around the house than cycling.
I’ve been in one car/bike collision in 40 years of cycling and I’ve been in many more car/car accidents.
I’ve also seen plenty of bikers crash on MUP’s as well.

Me too. I tend to be a little bit of a klutz.

My car/bicycle accident left me with a bruised little finger.
My car/walking accident left me with a bit of a bruise on my leg.

But at home or at work, I've burnt my foot to the bone, sliced off the tip of my finger, torn my rotator cuff, sprained pretty much every finger, sprained my wrists, sprained my ankles, sprained my entire back from the back of my head all the way down to my tailbone, bruised my knees and elbows, broken bones in my feet ... I could go on ...

I might be safer on the bicycle!! :D

I could not agree more. I have taught motorcycling for years and I'm always stunned by the student’s complete lack of understanding of the risks driving cars. Over 50,000 die every year on our nation’s roads! We for some reason think we are so safe in that cocoon of steel and plastic.

Know the risks, understand the risks and use skill, training and good judgment to mitigate the risks.

Well put.

I would agree with howeeee based on personal experience. Some countries, such as Japan, are much, MUCH more bike friendly than the US. It's not about just having bike lanes and racks at literally every single store; it's also about the car drivers being used to seeing more bikers and thus more cautious of them. Compare that to LA where not only are lanes lacking, roads in deplorable conditions, but half the drivers dont give a **** about you (i've been yelled to "bike on the sidewalk" several times).

'If it Bleeds it Leads', is a motto for news shows..
That works well to create a society of fear and division.

The same truck?

So I was blasting it through the trails yesterday, was WALKING my bike across the intersection and almost ****in got plowed down by grandpa in his mercuary if I had not of stopped I would have been flat dead. Also I find driving on rural roads are far more dangerous as the speeds are higher and peope pay way less attention

Myself, I think it's more safe riding on the road then riding on a MUP. Still, there's a small risk of getting hit. While we can't do much about the habits of cars, there are things we as bicyclist can do to reduce our risk of being hit. Ride legally, ride predictably, make yourself seen (those funny bright looking jersey's do serve a purpose), take the lane while stopped at traffic so cars don't sneak up next to your left, eye-contact with drivers. For those just starting to ride, it does take some getting used to before you're comfortable on the road.

I have been 5 accidents while riding bicycles. All were the fault of careless drivers, but fortunately, none of the accidents resulted in serious injuries.

The roads in America are quite good for cycling. They are wide, well-marked, and reasonably maintained. Now I live in Japan where there are many more cyclists, but the roads here are not nearly as good, and the laws regarding cyclists are vague. In Japan I have a bicycle insurance policy similar to the insurance which cars are required to have.

I have also done a lot of driving in my life, and in my experience driving a car is more dangerous than riding. My opinion is qualified, I was a traffic accident investigator for 10 years. I have been to countless accident scenes, but relatively few involved bicycles.

Got hit on a closed triathlon course... hunted down is the term that i use haha... I tell my wife, ride enough miles, and there'll be a run in with a vehicle at some point... Always have an out. Especially with more and more morons on their smartphones

Well I have been about 20 times to the Netherlands, live 20 minutes from the Canadian border and been to about 14 other countries. Never been to a country cept maybe Russia that was worse for bicycling than the United States. Here in Detroit it is getting somewhat better but you have to be very careful, many people have an agrression toward people on bikes,,thats just the facts.

In 30 years I've only had one car/bike accident. He pulled out in front of me, and I hit him. Minor scrapes, but a totaled bike.

As far as generalizing for the entire US, I think there is way too much regional variability for that to be very useful.
As far as statistics, I seem to recall a study that shows that bike commuting significantly increases life expectancy, indicating that the health benefits significantly outweigh the risks, but I'm too lazy to look it up for you.

I've been hit by an automobile once while riding a bike. I was in the bike lane going over a bridge. The side mirror of a silver Ford F-350 smacked me in the shoulder. I ground a hole through the sleeve of my jacket pressing against the guard rail trying not to go over into the train yard below. No one stopped. The truck didn't even slow down. I got a sore shoulder and a scrapped arm.
That's my one bike/car collision. I've also had a couple no contact accidents where I dumped a bike to avoid a collision, but at least one of those was someone trying to kill me (I mean that literally), so not a normal situation.

While on foot I've been clipped by a car bumper while crossing a street (legally) and I've been run over in a driveway.

While in a car I've been rear ended at a stop twice. I've been in one side collision where someone on a motorcycle ran into the side of the car I was in. I've been in one head on collision where a car hit the car in the opposing lane and pushed it right in front of the car I was in.


Even dealing with the occasional homicidal maniac, cycling seems pretty safe.

So tell me, what have I gotten myself into: The Cult of AWESOME! "N+1" be thy name!

1. How high is the risk of getting hit by a car?
A. On a long enough time line everything is an eventuality.

2. Is it safe to say that USA roads have not been developed with cycling in mind, and that maybe bikes really have no business on them if the roads are that inapproriate and dangerous for cycling? Are we deluding ourselves?
A. Nothing, Nothing is ever completely safe to say. Try whispering the words "ice cream"...into the ear of a rabid, hungry and injured Poodle. I dare you.
A2. Nope.

3. I am under the impression that Asian and European roads were built with cyclists in mind because there are so many. Here in the states cyclists seem to be rare, comparatively.
A. Your impression is wrong in the case of Japan.

4. How many members are on these forums?
A. I'm pretty sure that this forum, like every single other forum in the history of the internets has a member tracker. Let's play a game and see if you can find it before I do!

5. How many cyclists in the USA? Any stats of cyclist/hits ratios out there?
A. At least 10.
A2. Yes.

Well if those are just the facts, you should be able to link to the data that supports them, right?

Yep. Do everything in your power to upset the drivers of larger vehicles. Get in their way, and don't even think about moving to the right so that they can pass safely. Shoulders are for whimps. Stay strong, brother!

Let us know when you take off those training wheels, we'll throw you a party!

I was hit by a car. I was stopped on the side of the road right in front of my house and BANG! -- a neighbor plowed right into me. I flew up in the air, lost consciousness for a few seconds, and landed spread-eagled on top of my totaled bike. Fortunately, my bike was hurt much more than I, and two weeks later, I was back on the road with a new bike.

However, this doesn't answer the question at all, because an experience where n=1 doesn't have any statistical validity. If there were accurate statistics, we'd have to analyze them pretty carefully. For example, I'd imagine the chances of getting hit by a car are MUCH higher if you ride on the sidewalk and dart into intersections, or if you ride on the street against traffic. They're probably much higher if you ride at night in dark clothing with no lights. I would imagine -- though I have nothing but gut feeling to back this up -- that if you took the "risky riders" out of the equation, the chances are actually fairly low.

And of course, the more aware you are, the more you can lower your chances. I can think of at least five instances over the past 10 years where I would have been right-hooked, except that when I'm alongside a car, I watch their right front wheel like a hawk, and the second it moves a millimeter to the right, I know I have to slow down rapidly to avoid a calamity. I don't ride in the door zone, even if there is a bike lane. If the conditions warrant, I take the lane and don't give it a second thought.

Then there are the differences between states and even cities within a state. For example, here in north county San Diego, I can ride out of my garage and ride on wide bike lanes almost anywhere I want to go. In Los Angeles, you can't do that. And when I used to ride in Nashville, many years ago, not only were there no bike lanes, but you had to be on the lookout for roadkill.

In other words, it's impossible to generalize. All you can do is improve your own chances of not getting hit.