coldehammer

Never got hit by a car or hit a car but I did hit a person when I was 9 and that's the last time I will ever hit anything. Came around a corner very fast and blindsided an elderly woman who could not move as fast. Hit her dead on ripping her pantyhose and causing some road rash on her shins.

Lesson learned - be patient and know your surroundings. This goes the same with flat tires, I've never had a flat from road surfaces in my 6 yrs of enthusiastic road cycling.

I do see some cyclists who either do not ride on the very far right of the car shoulder (for US traffic) or do not take the full lane over. They are right in between and that causes them to get clipped more likely. If they fear getting doored, they should ride slower to use their supplied brakes. That's my .02 cents.

caloso

I've had plenty of crashes but have never been hit by a car. How much is luck and how much is skill is impossible to say. But you have to take responsibility for your own safety. Drivers certainly won't.

Pay attention. Learn to read cars' body language. Stay out of the door zone. Scan far down the road to look for danger zones and escape routes. Learn how to bunnyhop, emergency stop, and make a hard 90 at speed. Learn how to stop without skidding; also, learn how to ride a skid.

snugent

coming through an intersection and a car made a left right in front of me. the intersection was at the bottom of a hill, so i was going reasonably fast (25-30 mph). i saw it coming, tried to make turn sharp to get around her, my whole left side made contact with the passengers side quarter panel/lighting assembly. hit the ground hard, got a sweet ambulance ride to the hospital, had tons of cat scans, mris and x-rays done. ended up with a torn meniscus in my left knee, about 100 stitches holding my left elbow together and tons of bruising. still going through legal stuff almost 2 years later since her insurance company is saying it is my fault because i was going at an excessive speed (limit is 30).

smd3

I was hit in the same manner as #1 on your list. I was ok, concussion, bruises, but no serious injuries. The way she cut the intersection, and the point I was at, she hit me nearly head on. Broke the frame of my Wilier just behind the head-tube, on the top and down-tubes. Taco'd wheel, and a broken helmet too. Luckily she had insurance.

DeadheadSF

So far, I've been lucky - not a single car vs. bike situation ever. And I'd like to keep it that way (I hope this doesn't jinx it). My #1 rule: assume that everyone around you is going to do something incredibly stupid at any moment.

It may be a little paranoid, but it keeps me paying attention at all times and has saved my skin (both in a car and on a bike) more times than I can count.

AdelaaR

I use exactly the same rule ... I'm 31 and I haven't had any serious accident yet on bike or in car.

Drew Eckhardt 

On a bike path with lanes in both directions, riding in the lane traveling in the 'reverse' direction with respect to the adjacent road, by a driver turning right from a cross-street.

I quit riding on that bike path during times of high traffic and just used the adjacent road instead, taking the lane (one in each direction) where there wasn't much shoulder. Probably annoyed more drivers but I didn't get hit by another car.

Crappymonkey

Like a few others here I was hit while going through an intersection by a driver who was turning left. The driver was 92! I spent a week in the hospital with a collapsed lung and I'm still going to physio for pain in my foot, thumb and shoulder and it's been almost a year . It was a Friday morning and I was heading to work to get my equipment together for a dental technology registration exam that they hold only once a year. I missed the exam

I still ride because I love it but I don't commute to work by bike anymore and I am very cautious when it comes to cars and other cyclists (don't trust anybody).