This is what I consider to be the most dangerous section of my ride. As you can see the road narrows from having very large shoulders to basically none as you cross the bridge. I will not cross the bridge if there are cars coming in my lane. It's asking for trouble. In this photo is the bus that I ride usually one way, mostly home (today was the exception cause it was so nice I decided to ride home!) The idiot in question not only rode across the bridge when there was traffic but did it against the cars and when the bus was crossing! Poor bus driver slowed almost to a stop to avoid from hitting him! Like I said....his biking lifespan will be short lived if he keeps this up!
As a result of being a witness to this stupidity curiosity made me look up
some statistics that I will share with you.
- An average of 115 persons die each day in motor vehicle crashes in the United States -- one every 13 minutes. According to the World Health Organization about 3000 people die in crashes each day worldwide.
- 537 people in plane crashes on average (obviously a whole bunch can die at once!)
- 4008 people on motorcycles died in 2008
- Approx. 600-700 cyclists died every year on average between 2000-2004.
- 89% of these fatalities were male (hummmmmm)
- The greater the concentration of cyclists in an area on a regular basis the less likely for a crash regardless of helmet use.
- Riding the wrong way (aka dumb bell I saw yesterday), and riding on sidewalks is more dangerous then on the road
- Most deaths occur at night
http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/almanac-safety.html
So...the bottom line is this....
I'm less likely to die on my bike then in my car or on a motorcycle.
Especially since I'm female,
ride during the day,
and stay on my side of the road minding my P's and Q's
and keeping an eye on those pesky cars!
Because the last statistic is this:
- Cars are responsible for 90% of all car/cycle accidents
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