Originally Posted by
salcedo
Lets look at the data to get some perspective. If you look at number of serious injuries and deaths, cycling is only slightly more dangerous than driving. But if you look more closely, you will see that many of the serious accidents involve cyclists being reckless or breaking the law. IF you ride carefully and respecting the law you can be very safe by any reasonable standard of safety.
(I guess it depends on where you are talking about, I would not feel safe riding with cars in some parts of the world. But I would feel safe in most places in the US or Canada)
There are also many deaths involving children who may not be so skilled at bike-handling nor at navigating hazards on their route, whether it's riding on sidewalks or the road. Case in point:
https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-...ding-bike.html
I'd also count people who ride at night without lights,
salmons and ninjas, if you will, among the reckless.
Cycling probably feels more dangerous than it really is. I imagine it might be akin to something like sitting in a lawn chair on the side of a highway mere feet away from cars streaking past at 100+ kph; even if there was a concrete barrier between you and the cars it still might not feel very 'safe'.
Once you account for the fatalities involving children, and those who are 'reckless', for those take precautions to ride judiciously and with proper lighting, cycling is probably safer than driving. Probably.