vintage1987

You will feel differently when you wind up in the ER of your local hospital, permanently damaged due to no fault of your own. It will happen, its just a matter of when. And thinking you are too experienced a rider for it to happen,,, well.. that will only make it worse.

Agedpk

Seems like I have lived the same life you have spoken of...also commuted for 30 years, seen an extreme amount of lane drift, even while driving a vehicle...as you do, I feel much less safe on the roads these days...I have pretty much vowed to ride only stone, paved or other bike trails...and I might add, that due to this danger factor, I think I have been less inclined to find joy on my bike...sad but true!

vintage1987

yes it is true what you say about "less joy". Riding the same path, trail or secure route every day becomes boring, no matter the wonderful scenery. However, after spending time in the ER I have chosen the more boring option. We have the most aggressive, selfish, ignorant and belligerent driving public in the world. We also have a small percentage, but growing, of our riders who are just as boorish. That my friends is a very bad formula; for riders

vintage1987

perhaps she knows better than YOU the risks of your riding. Take no comfort in that my friend

Commutess

I don't blame you. Most cities have pathetic bike lanes that are part of the actual car lane and expect people to risk their lives riding on them. It's ridiculous. Kudos to cities that create separate bike paths that are not connected to the actual road. The only way I will ride my bike on the road is if there are sidewalks the whole way, and even then I am in fear of some driver looking at their phone and veering onto the sidewalk. At least it's legal to ride on sidewalks in my state.

DeadGrandpa

I have done that. Before choosing, I asked my new gf/bike riding partner whether she preferred the mountains or the coast. She said "both" but I pointed out that I had never seen a paved road in the mountains that I considered to be safe to bicycle (no shoulder, no redeeming qualities). Plus, I factored in the other hobby I had acquired, sailing, and now we can ride 50+ miles of low traffic miles, direct from our driveway in coastal NC. The mountains are a mere 6 hours away, and we plan to train there (on gravel roads) for our summer Finger Lakes tour.

marcoguzm

I agree, you should try to find streets or roads with less traffic, less risk. It's hard to give up cycling, not only because of health reasons, it's something we do for ourselves.

myisland

If you use a phone in a moving vehicle you should lose your license for a year. That needs to be the rule at a minimum.

RkFast

Im in the same area. South Nassau is rough but north Nassau and Suffolk has some good riding.

JoshuaTSR

I got hit last month and I'm in the stages of selling my fast bikes and just slowing down. My problem is that I was on a cruiser when I became a hood ornament at 35 mph. I was going slow up hill and got t-boned and am in recovery stages but at 45 every thing now hurts. Seeing a chiro, pain specialist and soon an orthopedic. Was it worth it? Heck no!!! I'd rarher be pain free but that ship has long sailed. Will I miss it? Yup but what can I do when I can't even ride a bike yet? I'd rather spend time with my family and be happy so it looks like it's time to thin the herd of fast road bikes.
My middleweight Schwinn saved my life, I have no doubt of that. I could only imagine the damage to me if I was on my aluminum specialized road bike instead of my steel horse.

Emkay312

I am a recumbent trike user. I do not have a pot belly or long beard. I do understand and even agree with your reasoning. I have similar challenges, even on my trike. Including the possibility of my trike being stolen. I have taken to putting my trike in my car and going to places where it is safe to ride. I ride early in the morning and late in the evening, when the roads are quiet. I think you should not give up, find solutions that make your ride safe. Recumbent trikes like electric bikes, give those of us who do not want to be hurt cycling, an opportunity to continue doing something we love.

Kabuki12

I ride frequently on busy roads and bike lanes that are way too close to fast(45+mph) traffic. It scares me sometimes knowing that a lot of drivers these days can’t go 5 minutes without texting or messing with their phone. I see it at the stop lights , people on their phone or phones on their lap and they are busy texting away like they are getting away with something. I was run off the road by a Ventura Police officer because he was fiddling with his lap top! I let him have it, then he apologized, but to me no excuse. I love cycling , I don’t listen to music while riding and keep a keen eye at all times. I know at some point I may have to move to a less populated part of the country or give up road biking. This really worries me. If we can’t behave in a more carefull manor and continue our wreckless behavior even knowing that we cold kill someone we are doomed! I don’t think anyone truly believes using a phone while driving an automobile is safe.

nomadmax 

And if the crash causes a death the charge should be "Voluntary Manslaughter" instead of Vehicular Homicide.

indyfabz

Relax. I was joking, as noted my the smile. I see you are new around here. You'll figure this place out.

julius rensch

Amen Digger...
Jules in Ohio

Sudevan

I agree that the numbers look rather grim for the US. But I have some questions about this graph. Do you or anyone else know if the data shown (I'm assuming the ordinate reflects actual number of road fatalities) is in any way corrected for total population, or for total driving/riding population? The US has a total population of around 320 million. I lived in the Netherlands in the early nineties, and they had a total population of about 15 million then. I loved cycling in that country! But I also noted that far more people cycle, or take public transportation, rather than drive in the Netherlands. In cities like Amsterdam, where I lived, there was certainly quite a bit of motor traffic, but it was safe to ride because there were separate bike paths, with bike traffic lights. The total population, the driving and riding population, the prevalence of public transportation, and the ratio of cyclists to car drivers all factor into understanding the data in the graph. There's also the law: In the Netherlands, the burden of proof of innocence was much greater for the driver of a car than for the cyclist, when an accident happened, which meant drivers were far more cautious. As such, the graph leads to more questions about the reality it seeks to depict.

I also think the populations of the other countries shown in the graph are all dwarfed by the US. Tthe biggest is likely Germany, followed by France. I welcome comments.

julius rensch

I travel to Canada several times a month and would speculate that cities such as Ottawa, Toronto and Windsor seem to be more "cyclist friendly" than cities here in Ohio.
I have no statistics relative to accidents, injuries or fatalities....perhaps someone can supply more dialogue.
Jules in Ohio

JeffreyD

I suggest you stick to the trails and I could not agree more that our roads and drivers make it dangerous sharing the road more than ever. Increased speeds and little enforcement of already weak driving laws. What is needed is improved infrastructure ... more trails and protected traffic lanes and the cost compared to building more lanes and roads for motor vehicles is relatively small.

indyfabz

One car during this 9 mile climb. Old timer in a truck with a dog in the front seat. Classic scene. Just enough room for me to pull over to let him pass.

But dirt has its dangers. The lens angle flattens out that slope on the left. It's steeper than it looks. Go off the edge and you're likely a goner. Rode the inside track to give myself some breathing room.

BTW...Look back frequently. Some of the beast views are behind you.

indyfabz

And motor vehicles are not the only hazardous traffic on roads.

Daniel4

Either the roads in the US are really bad or there's just a lot of cars on the road. Single vehicular motor vehicle crashes are quite common. I doubt many cyclist die on an empty road just by being there otherewise people wouldn't be recommending trail riding.

Road fatalities for cyclists and pedestrians are the results of motor vehicles being there. Plain and simple.

indyfabz

My friend Frank went face first into a tree while riding a trail. He died.

Some guy riding in a large, road club event in my area missed a turn at the bottom of a short descent, went through a T intersection into a parking lot, hit a parking bollard, crashed and died. Not a moving vehicle in sight.

To quote Forest Gump: "It happens."

vintage1987

and the FIRST OFFENSE FINE for using a cell phone in a moving vehicle should be $5000 along with the suspension NO questions no defense. EOS

indyfabz

So if you’re charged with something you should not be able to prove your innocence?

wilsoncb

Good discussion, people are not smart, as a society the majority are getting dumber. Every time I drive I see the same stupid behaviors described multiple times in this thread. I just take a deep breath and thank God that autonomous cars will help eliminate much of this madness...it just can’t come soon enough!