... it only becomes unsafe when the first motor vehicle comes along.

Agreed.

The road is very safe, go ride on one when there are no cars on it and you will see, it only becomes unsafe when the first motor vehicle comes along.

The roads are perfectly safe, its the cars that are not safe.

"perfectly safe" is a simplification.  There are certainly many roads hazards that would remain road hazards even if there were not a single car in the city... but I think I get your point.

I did a search on that book, and the most recent edition was 1984.  I'm sure trends have changed over the last 24 years.  Is there a more recent reference for bicycle accident data?

Mine is the 6th edition, 1993. While not exactly up-to-the-minute data, I would think his research still has value.

Regards,
Phil Hallmark

You didn't die after all though.  I was referring to fatalities and not collisions in general.  I still put getting hit from behind as my top chance for *dying* in a car collision while on my bicycle.

I hope that in retrospect that I have a 0% chance of dying in a car collision, but I am sure that I will have a 100% chance of dying overall.

I've been riding around Austin for almost 18 years on all kinds of bikes for all kinds of reasons.  I know all the tricks and tips and have never been hit by a car, until a few weeks ago. 

You can ride as safely and smartly as possible, but you'll *NEVER* be able to take precautions against a 76 year old with handicapped tags and poor vision who "just didn't see you" right the **** in front of her in a four-way stop intersection.  I hope you never never never get hit, but if you do, I'd bet it's going to be something like my crash, and not from behind.

-B

Rod
   I did a search on that book, and the most recent edition was 1984.  I'm sure trends have changed over the last 24 years.  Is there a more recent reference for bicycle accident data?

The fear we all have about being run over from behind is not supported by Forester's research.

My guess is that *if* I get hit by a car accidentally that it'll be from behind.  I am incredibly careful to prevent so many of the other problem interactions with cars that getting hit from behind seems to be the only significant danger to me from cars remaining.  Most of the other ways of getting killed are just not significant to me because I almost completely preclude them from happening.

I've been seeing a figure that 5% of bicyclist fatalities are from getting hit by a car from behind.  (I'm not sure if this is 5% of all bicyclist fatalities or only those resulting from a collision with a motor vehicle.)  However, that 5% figure for the observed fatalities certainly doesn't apply to me.  Why?:
* I'm over 18 years old and I'm over 25 years old.
* I'm younger than 60 years old.
* I use front and rear bike lights (more than 99.5% of the time) when riding at night.
* I ride on the correct side of the street.
* I rarely ride on sidewalks.
* If I have had too much to drink, I don't ride a bike.
* "The Right Cross": I always give myself a large amount of clearance around cars approaching from the right who fail to stop at the proper place.
* I don't ride in the door zone at speeds in excess of 8 mph.
* In the rare case that I pass a car on the right side or ride beside a car, I never let the car's behavior be a surprise to me.
* I make eye contact with motorists whenever helpful and possible.
* "The Left Cross": I ride closely to the oncoming vehicle so that the vehicle cannot begin its turn until I have passed.  Driver education courses teach drivers not to begin their turn until the path is clear.
* I give myself enough lateral room on the road so that I do not have to make sudden adjustments to avoid obstacles.
* I stay in a highly visible position on the road.
* I follow traffic laws.
* I take other precautions.

Just about the only way a car is going to hit me accidentally is from behind.  My wild guess is that getting hit from behind constitutes over 50% of my risk for death from accidental motor vehicle collisions.

Michael Cosper

I think that in order to reduce bike/car accidents and deaths, we need to first understand what the real problems are.  This requires understanding what factors contributed to *actual* accidents  and deaths, so that problems can be rationally prioritized.  My gut tells me that cyclist education (particularly for kids) would provide the biggest bang for the buck, but without real data showing that uninformed cyclist decisions are the biggest contributor to bike/car accidents, I don't know for sure that's the highest priority - or what the priorities should be in general.

John Forester's book "Effective Cycling" has tons of data on bicycle accidents. If I recall correctly, riding at night with no lights, or being a kid, are the 2 most common causes of cycle crashes. As for tangles with cars, they are indeed relatively low on the list of causes, and the most common place where bikes tangle with cars is at intersections. The fear we all have about being run over from behind is not supported by Forester's research. Ironically, most of the things we do to alleviate that fear put us in more danger at intersections, where most of the accidents occur (hugging the curb, riding against traffic, etc).

Regards,
Phil Hallmark

When the statistics show that only 1% of traffic on the roads is bikes....

I looked for a bit for the source of this statistic, but I'm going to assume that you're referring to census data.

The problem with comparing the census data to other figures is that the census data refers to the percentage stating bicycling as their option for commuting to work.  Most significantly, the census figure ignores the people who go by bicycle to school/college/university and those who do not commute to work.  When one considers that a large portion of bicyclist fatalities are children under 18 (many/most under even working age as well), then one sees that the figures cannot be directly compared with each other.  (In other words, the 2% figure includes many people not included in the 1% figure, and the goes for the remainders:  some of the 98% survivors are not included in the 99% non-bicycling-to-work people.)

Also, does the census question only allow one choice?  I am guessing that many people bicycle to work who have another method that they claim as their main method.

-Tom

   I'm skeptical of your venture that the bulk of cycling accidents are bike/car accidents.  I've only been hit once by a car, but have had over a dozen accidents in 13 years.  If I look at the causes of MY accidents only, the bulk were my own stupidity, next down the list are bad road conditions, then bike mechanical failures (flat, pedal failure, etc.) then the stupidity of other cyclists, THEN the stupidity of car drivers.  I may not be a typical cyclist, however, because I go to whatever lengths possible to avoid car traffic (back roads, off-peak hours, etc.).

   That said, I have been in many NEAR accidents with motor vehicles, sometimes without the motorist even realizing it.  The causes of that are inadequate road facilities for cycling (i.e not enough room for both cars and bikes), and driver inattentiveness or aggression.

   So my completely anecdotal, unscientific prioritization for improving cyclist safety, based on my own experience is:

1)  Cyclist education - kids especially (I see them do all sorts of unsafe things).
2)  Road construction (and signage) which appropriately accounts for cyclists.
3)  Motorist education on the rights and responsibilities of cyclists.