What does it mean to "Share the Road" - long

[PamNY]

There were 256 pedestrian deaths in 2009. Eighty percent of drivers in fatal or serious injury incidents were male, BTW.

[Eden]

I know that it can happen (fatal ped-bike accidents), but 1 a year does not an epidemic or a widespread public hazard make..... That doesn't mean I'm making light of it, that I'm condoning reckless riding, or think that it shouldn't be prevented, but we do have to have some perspective. More people are killed each year in the US by slipping on ice, or by lightening (interestingly around 60 per year for each) than are killed by being hit by a bike..... and I get the feeling NYC has bigger numbers than most places.... our rate of fatal bike ped accidents out here in Seattle is around one every 10-15 years... (yes one just happened recently)

Cars (or should I say drivers) on the other hand kill around 40-45,000 people in the US every year and around 1.2 million per year world wide....

[PamNY]

I know that it can happen (fatal ped-bike accidents), but 1 a year does not an epidemic or a widespread public hazard make..... That doesn't mean I'm making light of it, that I'm condoning reckless riding, or think that it shouldn't be prevented, but we do have to have some perspective. More people are killed each year in the US by slipping on ice, or by lightening (interestingly around 60 per year for each) than are killed by being hit by a bike..... and I get the feeling NYC has bigger numbers than most places.... our rate of fatal bike ped accidents out here in Seattle is around one every 10-15 years... (yes one just happened recently)

Cars (or should I say drivers) on the other hand kill around 40-45,000 people in the US every year and around 1.2 million per year world wide....

I'm not sure who you are arguing with, but I did not state that cycling-related fatalities were an epidemic or a widespread public hazard. Nothing that I said requires any perspective whatsoever.

I know of absolutely no reason to compare cycle-related fatalities to car-related fatalities. Nothing an auto driver does justifies unsafe cycling.

I responded to your statement about a hypothetical lawmaker who thought that bicycles are not an "inherently dangerous machine to the general public." I've had too many near-misses with cyclists to let that go without comment.