[TriLUG] [OT] TriLUGger on the news

[Scott Chilcote]

Dave Sorenson wrote:
> It's been my experience at numerious accident scenes that that is how 
> L.E.O.'s interperet the law. YMMV. I however choose to ride as far to 
> the right as possible when I'm riding as I know which vehicle will "win" 
> when a bicyclist trys to enforce their "right" to use the road. It 
> probably comes from seeing too much blood and brain tissue on the 
> road... I don't miss that part of the job.
> 
> Be safe!
> 
> Dave

It may seem like a lot of blood and brain tissue to an emergency 
responder, but out of the millions of people who travel our roads well 
under 1000 cyclists are killed every year.  The majority of those are 
not serious bicycle commuters.  An average of 16.5 cyclists per million 
die every year in the U.S.; for motorists, it's 19.9 motorists per million.

The most dangerous situation for bicyclists appears to be riding in the 
late evening without lights and reflectors - and none of the serious 
cyclists I know do that.

Some interesting information regarding the safety of bicycle commuting 
is here:  http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/health/risks.htm

But on the other hand, there's no reason to relax, either.  Ken Kifer, 
who compiled the information on that web page, was killed while cycling 
by a drunk driver.
--
Scott C.