[mark s]

perfect sunday morning and i thought a gentle ride to loosen the tight legs after fridays hose running all day.
im coming towards leek at blackshaw moor and a car and caravan pull out on me,i had to adjust my road position closer to the kerb to avoid so gave his extended mirror a whack.it must have been made in malasia as it fell off and broke.he came along side me and he was turning the air blue whilst she said 'why did you do that?' told her 'dont pull out on cyclists,and dont get so close'.her reply 'we werent close' they stopped then to try and salvage the left overs.
my thoughts are tough fucking luck,you must have been very close for me to be able to hit the mirror.
it was the old he is on a bike ,he can slow down or move over.

[crimp]

Happens all the time. They probably underestimated your speed.

I used to ride about 350 miles a week with road race club. Both times i smashed in to a car pulling out, i was doing about 30mph, and both times the drivers said. Practically the same thing: "sorry, i didn't realise you were going so fast". Only minsor injuries both times. But they should be assessing your speed, not guessing.

A friend who commutes across bristol had so may people pull out on him, he took to wearing a helmet cam.

Hopefully your caravaner will be a bit shaken up and check better for BOB in future.

[fatkid2000]

I commuted to work for the first time this year on Thursday. I also had a near miss thanks to some stupid mother in her SUV rangie doing a sodding u-turn outside a school having picked up her darlings. Luckily I guessed it was going to happen and nipped down the middle of the road.

Next day she brought them into my morning surgery - she seemed utterly shocked that a GP would ride a bike.

[crimp]

Hi bud

that's not surprising. When i lived in Bermondsey drivers regularly wound down their windows and hurled abuse at me because i had my 2 year old bin lid on hamas bike seat.

They miss the point. Cycling ain't dangerous, it's ignorant drivers that are.

Last job i had was as a project officer with sustrans. One of hardest obstacles to overcome in getting people out their cars and on their bikes is the fear of car drivers. But as a quack,  you'll know the benefits of cycling far outweigh the risks

[rich d]

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes when I'm driving I make mistakes (just like other areas of my life) mostly they're not vindictive. If you knocked my wing mirror off I'd be annoyed. If I pulled out in front of you I'd apologise and not shout abuse. Think manners on the road goes both way.
 

[mark s]

they did see me,there was no attempt to acknowledge they made a mistake.her saying out of the window as they drove along side me that they were no where near me shows they knew i was there.
i dont go out like the militant cyclists on youtube,i only react when i feel that someone has endangered me.

[petejh]

I'd be interested to know some statistics to see if they back up my view that road biking in the UK = deadly. Makes bold trad look safe in comparison.  It actually amazes me that people want to bike on the UK's roads. It doesn't much matter that it's deadly because of driver's inattention, being in a rush, and their attitudes to cyclists - that's like saying swimming in alligator-infested rivers is safe if it weren't for alligators. All that matters is our roads are chock full of millions and millions of inattentive drivers, in a rush, with cyclists off their radar.

[crimp]

The greatest inhibitor to increasing cycle journeys as mode of transport under 5 miles in the UK is fear of cars.

That's hardly surprising. I was regularly called a cunt by car drivers in London because i took my young daughter on my bike.

She's still alive 16 years on by the way.

[slackline]

I'd be interested to know some statistics to see if they back up my view that road biking in the UK = deadly. Makes bold trad look safe in comparison.  It actually amazes me that people want to bike on the UK's roads. It doesn't much matter that it's deadly because of driver's inattention, being in a rush, and their attitudes to cyclists - that's like saying swimming in alligator-infested rivers is safe if it weren't for alligators. All that matters is our roads are chock full of millions and millions of inattentive drivers, in a rush, with cyclists off their radar.

Doesn't break down types of cycling, but this  compares cycling to other modes of transport (click on each mode to see how far you get/risk).  Doesn't have a comparison for bold trad though.

[twoshoes]

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes when I'm driving I make mistakes (just like other areas of my life) mostly they're not vindictive

I know I nearly knocked him off and scared the shit out of him, but it wasn't deliberate, so it's ok. 

[petejh]

Doesn't break down types of cycling, but this  compares cycling to other modes of transport (click on each mode to see how far you get/risk).  Doesn't have a comparison for bold trad though.

That's a useful site. Although the stats will be different from cities to open roads. For e.g. my ex used to road bike around the rockies in canada and said one of her greatest concerns was coming across a grizzly or brown bear when cycling alone along the icefields parkway. Being hit by a vehicle was perceived as unlikely given the open nature of the roads and relative lack of traffic. Compare with a typical busy road in Britain (just about every road in Britain is busy in comparison). Backs up what I thought (surely what everyone thinks?), that cycling is  massively riskier than driving (around 12 times?) - although I'm surprised walking is even riskier, again context?

Actually, just re-read and walking is also much less risky than cycling based on the typical distance people walk.

[slackline]

David Speigelhalter is active on twitter (@undunc) so you could ask him directly, or follow the link on that page to the "Small but Lethal" article where there are contact details for himself and the co-author can be found (or leave questions at the bottom of either page).

I expect it is something crude and simple such as statistics derived from the ONS all cause mortalities crudely cross-linked to some statistics on distances travelled by each mode.

For a more scientific/detailed insight you could start by searching Google Scholar if you're inclined (e.g.) but you may hit pay-walls for many articles (although Scholar will often present a PDF link to a given article if there is a free one to be had, but sometimes worth checking underneath 'All versions' if it doesn't).