I would like to say that road races are not any safer than crits. Both are risky.

If you can't handle the possibility of crashing for whatever reason, then racing isn't for you. I go back and forth with myself about this all the time.

I'd say for your first race, pick an event with a Cat 4 only field and just go have fun.

BTW, I put together a PowerPoint presentation for my collegiate team about racing basics--strategy and basic rules. It's a bit easier to read than going through the whole USAC rulebook. It does contain some collegiate-only rules (like points for intermediate sprints in crits and an overview of collegiate categories), but if you'd like to take a look, PM me an I'll send you a PDF.