Exactly where is it unsafe to ride? Large roads here in Columbus, that have share the road signs everywhere are still some of the areas with the biggest cases of bikers being injured. My friend was biking, legally, on a major road (as in, it isn't a side street and still is 25-35 mph, as opposed to major and being 55 mph) and she was hit by a guy turning left from the perpendicular road. The man that hit her was A) not paying attention to oncoming traffic, B) was on his cell phone, and C) blamed her for the accident.

My friend had the legal right-of-way to turn, her light was green, she had bike lights on both the front and back of her bike. She now has one hand shorter than the other by a quarter of an inch, due to bone compaction, she had 2 screws permanently in her right hand, and she had to have pins hold her finger bones in 3 fingers together for 2.5 months.

Most bicyclists are conscious of the car traffic, because they don't want to die. But even with your ideals of "increased infrastructure" I don't think it will make it any easier for cyclists to avoid being hit. The bike lanes here are in between the main road lanes and the turning lane, so there is lots of weaving of traffic in and out of the bike lanes, which can cause some hefty accidents. Even the bike lanes in New York City are disliked because of the safety concerns.

Drivers here in America are not taught proper procedures/etiquette in dealing with cyclists whatsoever. The main problems derive from the fact that we refuse to be inconvenienced. Anything, no matter what it is, no matter how beneficial it might be, is scrutinized it is causes the minutest bit of extra effort on the part of Americans. We, as a nation, are extremely, extremely lazy, rude, and selfish; it's disgusting.


P.S. re: "bikers shouldn't cycle if the city doesn't have the infrastructure installed to facilitate doing so." Please tell me, exactly what city do you know of that would spend the money of taxpayers on a whim? Why in the hell would bike lanes go in if the user-base wasn't already there in existence, demanding them? Like's like going into Texas to some gas-guzzling suburbs and putting in a battery-exchange-drive-thru for electric cars; because, you know, if you build it they will come.