I have been in only three
bicycle accidents in my time riding (not counting
childhood). The first two were
wiping out in
gravel (
my bad) and colliding with a fellow
cyclist who ran a
stop sign. I was also "
bumped" by a
city bus once.
The scariest bike accident I have had, though, was being "doored". You know what I mean: I was cycling along and somebody opened the door of a parked car right in front of me. There was no time to swerve and avoid it, so I winged the edge of the door with my handlebars, flipping over and onto the cold, wet asphalt in front of said car. I was lucky to escape with just a dislocated clavicle, and minor damage to the bike. However, I came within a few centimeters of having my fingers severed, and the shit was scared out of me but good. Now I am very nervous biking past parked cars.
BE CAREFUL. A cyclist could be killed in a car door accident. All you (driver) have to do is LOOK. All you (cyclist) can do is WEAR A HELMET!