This is going to sound like an exaggeration but it's not.. In my 5 years in salt lake for grad school, every single year I personally saw someone get hit by a car while riding their bike.. My first advisors other student got "doored" while biking, and apparently my second advisor was hospitalized at some point on his bike... Currently living in Portland which does feel much safer while riding, maybe due to having bike lanes and signs everywhere..

Bike lanes and signs are important, but perhaps more than all that is just having lots of other cyclists. When drivers become accustomed to looking for cyclists, or even are more likely to be cyclists themselves who happen to be driving at the moment, it makes a world of difference.

I definitely agree there is an element of "cyclist empathy" from being cyclists themselves .. Probably doesn't help that in Salt Lake, 5 months out of the year (July/ August due to heat and Dec-Feb due to ice) it is impractical to use a bicycle as primary transporation, and that surely loses a portion of people who might otherwise commute.

This was a major factor for me also. I lived in a 'hip' city in Virginia for 5 years and faced weekly incidents with drivers, ranging from clueless to irate, that nearly cost me life and limb.

I live in the bay area now and I can't recall the last time I had a threatening encounter with a driver.

Well, the bay is big. I was unfortunate enough to work in Newark (CA) for about 8 months and got yelled at a lot just riding from Fremont BART to my job. Working in SF was much better, unsurprisingly.

I moved to Austin for 3 months and tried living without a car. Don't bother trying.

Yes in most suburbs of the US it's safe to ride your bike.

If anything has ever needed a citation, it's that little gem. Suburbs are about the most dangerous place in the world for cyclists. You have lots of traffic, unlike the country, but it's moving really fast and unaccustomed to anything on the road but cars, unlike the city.

Source: lived in US suburbs most of my life. Still have a rib that aches some mornings from when I got hit years ago (the driver was shocked when I started calling the police).

I was being an ass. It wasn't meant literally but if I'm wrong then i guess we need to tell all these kids to hang up their bikes. Seriously, kids ride their bikes around the neighborhood like idiots (no regard for auto traffic). If I rode my bike like that on city streets I wonder how long I'd live.

"Seriously, adults drive their cars around the neighborhood like idiots"

ftfy. If you're the one operating a two ton machine that moves at high speeds in residential neighborhoods, the onus of responsibility for not killing someone is on you.

http://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7551873/jaywalking-history