furiousferret

First off, this forum is rife with fear mongering and it sends a negative impression of cycling as an activity. A few years ago this regional forum was pretty active as a social gathering place but now its just a death notice board. I bet at least a few dozen people interested in buying a bike had their opinions swayed visiting here.

Now that is off my chest, to your question. I've been cycling for about 10 years with 25,000 miles. I've had 2 minor collisions but nothing major. I'm a paranoid cyclist, and I think its good to only select routes which are 'safe'. Granted, any car is a threat but they are less so in certain roads. The most important thing is to assume a driver will make the worst decision possible. Other things are to stay well lit, and avoid main thoroughfares if possible; specifically ones that are straight with no shoulder. Windy roads imo, are safer because the driver has to pay attention whereas a straightaway a driver will look away from the road 10-15 seconds at time.

I don't really feel unsafe at all, the thing to understand is anomalies happen. A few weeks ago my Jeep was hit by a car that was going 100 on a residential road and lost control. I was doing everything by the letter, and still got hit. This will be argued but I think the chances of getting death in a car or bike are about 50 / 50 in SoCal. Cars are dangerous for us all, and I can't wait until we have driverless vehicles.

CommuteCommando

+1

Eyenigma

Holy ___ ! Did they just smack into your car or?

furiousferret

They rear ended another car, and it ended up spinning out in front of me, and eventually hit my front passenger side, taking me off the road. It was pretty surreal.

Dunbar

In total I've done 25k+ miles in the last ~3 years on the west side of LA and South Bay. I've had two run-ins with car this year after two years of nothing but the occasional close call. One was a car left-crossing me to get into a parking lot. I almost stopped in time but hit the car going <5mph and was not injured. I had just pulled away from a red light and had allowed my mind to wander. Second one was a 4-way intersection where I had the right of way (i.e., got there first.) A car blew through the stop sign at 30mph and I ran into the side of it at about 15mph (I started going, thinking he would stop.) He told me he was arguing with his girlfriend and didn't see the stop sign. Only minor bruising and scrapes on this one and the bike was fine. In both cases I probably could've avoided the collisions if I had been very alert.

I try to do the smart stuff like use good lighting, wear more visible colors, and stick to roads with bike lanes where possible. The main though thing is to ride defensively. I see so many riders (of all types) putting themselves in situations where they have no way out if something doesn't go right. I look at it like a game of probability, the more close calls you put yourself in, the sooner you're going to have a collision. And every time you have a close call, try to learn from it so it never happens again.

rms13

Relatively speaking, I think it's very safe. Some spots probably better than others but I do most of my riding around the greater Glendale/Burbank/Pasadena. Even with Glendale's nationally notoriously bad/dangerous drivers, I feel pretty safe. Of course I keep my head on a swivel and expect people to do dumb things when I'm on roads with lots of traffic and I'll admit I have situations on almost every ride that could be an accident if I was just cruising around not paying attention but I stay defensive and avoid stuff. Riding smart is also a good idea. I see tons of roadies around me who will weave on an off of sidewalks, roads, cross walks and take rights on reds then immediate u turn all in the sake of not stopping at a red light and those are the people that I feel like at great risk because they are unpredictable to drivers.

My parents live in Tampa and I've never ridden there but I would be scared to do so and the main difference is the attitude of drivers and the amount of cyclists on the road. There are a lot of cyclist on the road in socal so that forces drivers to be a little more aware than some other places

verdugist

I have less than 500 miles logged (mostly trail) in SoCal and honestly, I have no clue how/why you guys ride the streets. I used to ride streets from home to trailhead but due to distance/time and goatheads/flats, I drive my bike to trail heads now or hit my neighborhood trail. Why take the risk unless you're commuting to work? I used to be scared of mountain lions after seeing one in my local trail but there are other issues like trucks on fire roads, crashing, etc.

In fact, the one moment when I decided I won't do that again is a lane shift and looking back to see coming cars. That's scary.

asiantrick

You take risk everyday when you get in your car and drive to work too. Can't live your life like that.

90% of bike fatalities are bicyclists fault. If you ride smart and follow traffic rules, you will be alright my man.

MattCycle

It depends where. I've been cycling recently in West LA where there isn't really space for cars, let alone the parked ones and then bicycles. I think areas that have a cycling culture also have drivers (presumably many who cycle) that share the road and vice versa. When space is at a premium everyone tends to be a jerk to each other.

The other aspect is crime. I think generally if you going fast enough during the day you won't have any issues. People could ambush you but that is a level of preparation with low payout and you are still a 150-200 lbs or more object going 15-20 mph. Just don't be a target.

Garfield Cat

There is no such thing as "dangerous overall" in Southern California.