It does not suprise me...most will tell me I am wrong....yet most of those who get killed riding a bike are riding in the street on the right side of the road...some drunk or non-alert driver will come up from behind and run them over....happens all too frequently.
Riding in the street...i do not care which side you are on is very dangerous...thus i ride on the sidewalk or on a bike path whenever possible.
I used to live in Vegas and there was a rather famous bicylist that had one of those bicycles with a wind shield and pedals up high where he could recline whilst riding....everyone that drove down tropicana av. was familiar with him...rode right out in traffic...was really a nuisance...he was trying to make the point that he had as much right to be on the road out in the traffic as a car...he did have the legal right to do that but unfortunately he was run over and killed. I had an ecounter with him shortly before his death...I happened to be in a car and we were stopped at a red light...I rolled down my window and axed him if he was trying to comitt suicide...actually I was trying to wake him up..to help him...he got very angry maneuvered his contraption in front of me and tried to cut me off...really stupid...you cannot fix stupid.
and you are incorrect in your assessment of the 'bad form' reply...he explained it as being in 'bad form' because of the death of sunnis son. I think you fall in the stupid category.
I'm not the one riding on the wrong side of the road and through bad neighborhoods requiring me to carry weapons. You are one dumb shit. Or, now that I know the story, your possibly intentionally being an insensitive piece of shit. In either scenario good luck with your riding.
Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa You keep riding on the right side of the road and see what happens...I prefer to see whats coming at me.
To show just how wrong and stupid you are I did some research>>>>>You will note it is documented that the great majority of bicyclists killed whilst riding are killed by 'rear end collisions' ...meaning that cars hit the bicyclists from behind ...got dat chump?
How and why bicycle deaths happen in the US
Anyone who rides long distance knows the type of neighborhoods they often have to ride through...you can be prepared if you choose...if you choose not to that is stupid...aka a victim waiting to happen.
Oh liberals are so sensitive....oh yes so sensitive bwaaaaaaaaaaaaa blow it out your arse. hehheh
I thought you were being as ass on purpose. Now I know you're just one dumb fuck. Read:
Never Ride Against Traffic
This is the sort of b.s. that is getting bicyclists killed....I showed you the data...most bicyclists are killed riding on the right side of the road by getting hit from behind.
You may not value your life or you may be so stupid you do not understand the facts or the data regarding how most bicyclists get killed...that is on you.
Now....I know most bicyclists cling to the same stupid belief you have because it is the law...I have had many arguments over this so I know how it is.
I will conclude this by saying I had rather get a ticket any day for riding on the left side rather than ride on the right side and get killed....though I have been doing it for years and have never gotten a ticket.
Once again the data that supports my decision...anyone that rides a bicycle on the street and values your life would do well to ponder this................40% percent of bicyclists that get killed get hit from behind by a car.
How and why bicycle deaths happen in the US
You're problem is you aren't reading your data correctly. The chart you posted doesn't look at direction of traffic. This is what you want to be looking at:
RiskFactors
This article specifically compares riding with traffic and against traffic. You're risk of getting hit is increased by 3.6% - 6.6% if you travel against traffic. The reasons would be obvious, but apparently not for you.
From the article:
Direction of Travel
Table 4 shows that all categories of bicyclists traveling against the direction of traffic flow are at greatly increased risk for accidents—on average 3.6 times the risk of those traveling with traffic, and as high as 6.6 times for those 17 and under. This result is readily explained: because motorists normally scan for traffic traveling in the lawful direction, wrong-way traffic is easily overlooked. To give only a single example, a motorist turning right at an intersection scans to the left for approaching traffic on the new road, and cannot see or anticipate a fast-moving wrong-way bicyclist approaching from the right. (This is the one of the most common types of bicycle-motor vehicle collisions in Palo Alto.)
This finding provides compelling justification for current traffic law, which requires bicyclists on the roadway everywhere in the United States to travel in the same direction as other traffic. It also implies that vigorous enforcement of this law, for both adults and children, can substantially reduce the number of bicycle-motor vehicle collisions, and should receive high priority in any bicycle program.
Two points about Table 4 deserve comment. First, the conclusion is extremely robust: wrong-way bicycling is risky at an overwhelmingly high level of significance—p<<10-5 for the category as a whole, p<10-5 in four out of seven subgroups, and p<10-4 and 10-3 for two others. In the remaining subgroup, on the roadway, only 5 percent of bicyclists (108 of 2005) traveled against traffic, and only 5 accidents occurred there (compared to 2.5 expected); these small numbers limit any statistical significance.
Second, wrong-way bicycling is dangerous for all subgroups of bicyclists—including those traveling on the sidewalk, who may at first seem to be protected against collisions with motor vehicles. In fact, sidewalk bicyclists enter into conflict with motorists at every intersection (including driveways), and these are exactly the points where most bicycle-motor vehicle collisions occur. Wrong-way sidewalk bicyclists are at particular risk because they enter the point of conflict from an unexpected direction, just as they would on the roadway.
Nonetheless, unlike the roadway, the direction of sidewalk bicycling is usually unregulated or ineffectively regulated. Off-road bicycle paths are normally intended for two-way travel, and whether intended for it or not are almost invariably used that way.
