Is it inevitable a car will hit you one day ?

kingrollo

Been commutting for almost a year and cycling for almost 20 years. I went through a real nervy stage, but got over it - but just before xmas my mate had his brother killed when a car hit him from behind, while he was cycling to work - yesterday I picked up a traithlon mag - opened at the page where a 30 year old had been kiiled....

If you ride often enough , long enough ....is it inevetable one day you will get knocked off ?

I love the fitness and time saving of commutting .......but are we 'riding our luck'

Jamey

Like most things in life it's not a black or white situation. It simply isn't the case that you either get hit and die or you don't get hit and you live. The reality is many shades of grey which ranges from minor collisions up to more serious injuries and right at the very end of the scale is death - because what could possibly come after death on such a scale?

So if you're asking whether it's likely you'll be hit at some stage then the answer is probably yes. But if you're asking whether it's likely you'll die from being hit the answer is almost certainly no.

chuckcork

I know a number of people who have come off in collisions with cars while on their bikes, and have had plenty of near misses with motorists myself, mostly due to not being seen and recognised as a fast moving road user, some regretably where I feel I've been deliberately targeted. The ones that really wind me up are where I have not even been noticed (mobile phone users!) or where some yob has though it the height of hilarity to try and scare me off........

but in saying that I had a cousin killed in a totally avoidable car crash when he did something seriously stupid a week short of his 21st birthday, and in the process killed his mate too. I know people from my old school who have been killed in car crashes, and one from the year below me was left a quadraplegic from one. I think if you took a straw poll you'd find pretty much every person you asked could say the same thing about someone they knew being killed or injured, yet there are not only plenty of cars on the roads, but ever increasing amounts of traffic?

The only sane answer is that statistically, while cars are dangerous, and there is a chance that you will be killed/injured while cycling, unless you are really asking for it by dangerous behaviour (running red lights?) you are unlikely to have anything happen to you.

Of course I haven't had anything happen to me yet, but while it is the case that I've had plenty of the aforementioned near misses while cycling, I've also had plenty of those while driving/motorcycling too, so from that perspective I'd say just go out and enjoy yourself on your bike and try not to think about it!

Just think of the resultant alternatives of being in a car instead. Overweight, depressed, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes a likely result?

Not for me if I can help it!

Skiddypants

I have cycled on main roads since about the age of 12, in my early teens I raced on some busy dual carriage ways outside DUndee, it was when I was 29 before I was hit by a car - not my fault, some woman decided to do a u-turn from the side of the road on a very steep hill which I was doing about 30 mph down, didnt have a chance. Stangely enough I was hit again about a year later - T-boned on a roundabout by a guy who didnt see me (he said).

I dont think you can cycle on roads for ever without being hit by someone, lots more cars on the roads now, lots more idiots driving them. Where I live now I dont cycle as much as Id like to, roads are narrow, busy and poorly surfaced, but I am set to start using my turbo in the new year, ready for some serious cycling this year

blackworx

Jamey wrote:

what could possibly come after death on such a scale

Dying, getting wrapped round the axle of a bus and having your remains dragged past your mum's house on your birthday.

(I'll get me coat)

Skiddypants wrote:

I raced on some busy dual carriage ways outside DUndee

Ah, the infamous Dundee Wheelers' 25? That one's fun in the rain!

greg66_tri_v2.0

There are risks in everything you do. That's not intended to be a flippant or reckless justification for riding in a way more likely to get you hit; it's just an observation. Remener though that almost no one in car actually wants to hit you (despite how it can feel sometimes). And you obviously don't want to be hit, so most of the time it should be possible to avoid being hit.

laughingboy

Cycling is safe.

"a cycling death in Britain occurs less than once every 18million cycling miles. A serious injury occurs less than once ever 900,000 cycling miles."

OK, as with most things there is a risk, but just because it doesn't always feel safe doesn't mean it isn't. We are rubbish as humans at assessing risk. Deaths and injuries do happen, but they are rarer than you would imagine.

And besides, the ancillary health benefits outweigh the risks. Oh and the mental health benefits are also wonderful. Cycling is great.

That quotation above comes from here, if you want to check the sources.
Enjoy the road! It is yours to share.

dizzydane

Cycling in London – it’s inevitable... Risking being hit by a car comes with the territory when commuting at speed.

I’ve ridden bikes my whole life and have had plenty of near misses, but 2 hits in the last 3 years, by drivers that claim to have not seen me...

In my commuting world, it’s the white Van Man and the Taxi drivers that you have to be aware of.

prj45

I think there's much more chance of winning the lottery in your lifetime.

simon_e

According to the official stats 136 pedal cyclists were killed on the roads in 2007.

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it. But against 588 motorcycle users, 646 pedestrians and 1,432 car users it's not quite as awful a statistic. The total number of people killed in road accidents was 2,946, 7 percent fewer than in 2006.

When you compare it to deaths from other causes even that total figure appears small. For example, in the UK over 34,000 people die from lung cancer each year [source: Cancer Research UK]. Heart disease is the commonest cause of death in wealthy countries, and according to the Dept of Health it is "a preventable disease that kills more than 110,000 people in England every year". That's 1,000 times the number of cyclists who died on the roads last year.

Here's wishing for a 2009 with fewer road deaths. Ride safe and be happy.

chuckcork

Simon E wrote:

Heart disease is the commonest cause of death in wealthy countries, and according to the Dept of Health it is "a preventable disease that kills more than 110,000 people in England every year". That's 1,000 times the number of cyclists who died on the roads last year.
.

Some proportion of that no doubt could have been prevented through regular exercise, though of course I doubt plenty couldn't. Guess it is the category of 'what if'.

A pity though that your stats don't get through to the 'cycling is dangerous so I'll drive' majority out there, I've given up myself arguing with people over it as your either in the one camp or the other, along with the argument that its faster to drive in a city like London than cycle (with the obvious exceptions, its faster to cycle).

You'll never win or convince the blinkered to change their minds or give it a go....mores the pity.

Jamey

While we're on the subject of statistics can I just recommend this book to everyone:
http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/5303 ... oduct.html

I got it for Christmas on someone else's recommendation and it really is fantastic.

nwallace

If I take a train every day is it inevitable I will eventually be in a train crash
(If SPADs and Overseeds count I have been in at least 1)

If I get the bus every day is it inevitable that i will eventually be in a bus crash
(actually I've been in one but that's not the point)

If I drive every day is it inevitable that at somep oint i will be in a crash
(again I've been in a couple but that's not the point)

If I cycle every day is it inevitable that I will be in a crash
(again I've been in a few but that's not the point)

If I fly every day is it inevitable that I will be in a crash
(never flown)

If I walk every day is it inevitable that I will be in an accident?
(I've had 2 near misses with cars, both my fault)

Accidents where you are driving are either Wrong place wrong time, or your fault.
Accidents where you are not in control are almost entirley wrong place wrong time.

If you worry about it you would never do it.
That's why I don't fly....

fossyant

I recon a crash due to a motorist's in attention once every 3 years.

Had two near misses in the last 12 months, and 1 hit, just two weeks ago - I was lucky..an average 'joe' on a bike would have not faired too well.

lost_in_thought

I reckon that you're going to end up in a box at some point however careful you are, so it's a cunning plan not to worry about it too much.

Despite that, however, I was hit by a bus in Oxford when I was at uni in 2002, and in march 2008 by a wvm in London.

Maybe I'm just not very lucky! But it won't stop me...

bk1973diving

Can't talk much about cycling - as just starting, but having clocked over 100,000 miles on motorbike, commuting for 8 years - accident free , if it's going to happen it will happen, all you can do is ride carefully, and watch out for the car/van/bus (just for Lost in Thought !) drivers who may decide to invade your space !

Baz

Slow Downcp

It's not inevitable that you will get hit, but the more you cycle the more chances there are for you to be hit. Laws of probability - all you can do is ride carefully, try not to do things to antagonise vengeful chavs in their Babyliss Sri-look-a-like, and don't increase your chances of accidents by RLJ'ing etc.

always_tyred

Slow Downcp wrote:

It's not inevitable that you will get hit, but the more you cycle the more chances there are for you to be hit. Laws of probability - all you can do is ride carefully, try not to do things to antagonise vengeful chavs in their Babyliss Sri-look-a-like, and don't increase your chances of accidents by RLJ'ing etc.

I think (he says through a bit of a G&T haze) that there are stats suggesting that you are most likely to have an accident when you are less experienced, which might be re-cast as "the more you cycle, the less likely you are to have an accident". What I hope is that the experience factor dominates such that its next to impossible to cycle far enough to outweigh it.
Of course, accidents are binary - you either have them or you don't.

Slow Downcp

Always Tyred wrote:

Slow Downcp wrote:

It's not inevitable that you will get hit, but the more you cycle the more chances there are for you to be hit. Laws of probability - all you can do is ride carefully, try not to do things to antagonise vengeful chavs in their Babyliss Sri-look-a-like, and don't increase your chances of accidents by RLJ'ing etc.

I think (he says through a bit of a G&T haze) that there are stats suggesting that you are most likely to have an accident when you are less experienced, which might be re-cast as "the more you cycle, the less likely you are to have an accident". What I hope is that the experience factor dominates such that its next to impossible to cycle far enough to outweigh it.
Of course, accidents are binary - you either have them or you don't.

I did stop short of saying the more you cycle, the more likely to have an accident due to the experience factor. What I meant (and maybe not clear with my wording) is that there is more chances for people to hit you the more time you spend on the bike. If you cycle for twenty hours a week, theres ten times more time to be hit than if you cycle two hours a week. Probably still not 100% clear though what I mean. :?

roger_merriman

Always Tyred wrote:

Slow Downcp wrote:

It's not inevitable that you will get hit, but the more you cycle the more chances there are for you to be hit. Laws of probability - all you can do is ride carefully, try not to do things to antagonise vengeful chavs in their Babyliss Sri-look-a-like, and don't increase your chances of accidents by RLJ'ing etc.

I think (he says through a bit of a G&T haze) that there are stats suggesting that you are most likely to have an accident when you are less experienced, which might be re-cast as "the more you cycle, the less likely you are to have an accident". What I hope is that the experience factor dominates such that its next to impossible to cycle far enough to outweigh it.
Of course, accidents are binary - you either have them or you don't.

rings a bell that, mind you stats are funny old things i've been biking on and off for 20 plus years, with out a problems sounds good. until i point out until a few years ago i hardly rode on the road at all as most of my riding was over the hills of the breacon beacons.

gtvlusso

Will the car hit you, or will you hit the car.......Little bit of philosphy for you.

Jamey

Ah but if the car falls over in a forest and there's no-one around, does it make a sound?

gtvlusso

It also begs the suggestion that the car controls itself - Is the killer, the gun or the person holding the trigger?!

il ciclone rosso

Been cycling for 17 (going on 18) years and commuting for 2 years ( 2 or 3 times per week). I've had more close calls than I'd care to remember (almost been side-swiped, doored, turned into by cars, cars pull out in front of me, beer cans/bottles thrown at me.....). Like other posters have said, the more time you spend on the road the higher probability of "something" happening.
Every time you walk out of the house it's a crap shoot. There's a certain element of risk in every aspect of life.
When the good Lord decides it's your time, that's it and nothing you do is going to stop it. No sense helping Him along by pulling out in front of a bus ,or something like that, though.
The only thing we can do is ride sensibly and defensively, being alert and conscious of what's going on around us. For me, that means no "racing" other commuters on certain sections of road, and taking less-congested routes at certain times of day.
Over time I've found that I can almost predict what a driver is going to do at times, and if I take action in time, an accident can be avoided. I'm sure many of you have found the same true. Only problem is that you have to be able to see the vehicle/driver. Increasingly, it's become a driver talking on the cell phone in my experience.
We cyclists have blind spots, we can't see behind us, sometimes (depending on wind direction/speed) it's even difficult to hear an approaching car so riding sensibly, within the laws is imperative to making it home in one piece.
You can choose to either drive, ride mass transit or ride your bike. Like most other things in life, every decision comes with consequences which we must be willing to accept.