I can confidently say I am among the elite in terms of urban riding competency, having logged at least 15,000 miles riding around Los Angeles.

I’ve crashed three times. Two of those were were the result of a combination of bad luck and me taking unnecessary risks. The other one was entirely unavoidable, and totally the result of a negligent driver. In that case I slammed my head hard on the pavement, broke my helmet, and managed to ride away shaken but not seriously injured.

The point is I have skills too, I’ve avoided countless accidents by employing them. I also wear a helmet to further reduce that risk.

I was cycling safely from Coogee to the City in Sydney.

A lady driving her kids to school rear ended me at a round about.

My head smashed straight into the asphalt. Fortunately helmets are more or less legal requirements in Australia or else I would have been dead or brain-damaged.