That doesn't account for the increased chance of death, unfortunately.
I'd ditch 90% of my car use for a bike if I felt safe doing it... but most places in the US you really aren't. A quick google search shows bikers are 2-10x more likely to die per mile, though I didn't delve too deeply into it.
Don't forget to include the health benefits when weighing up risks! More chance of being flattened by an SUV now, less chance of a stroke/heart attack later.
I have bike commuted in the following places without near death:
* New York City
* San Francisco
* Portland
* Seattle
* Raleigh Durham
* Chattanooga TN
* Salt Lake City
For sure there are some cities where biking is terrible, but I am not sure it’s a “majority”. It also takes some awareness to ride your bike safely in a city, but actually, doing anything in a city takes a bit more awareness and caution.
Is it possible that you could avoid death while cycling by improving your cycling skills a bit? You could join a group of (still alive) cyclists to learn the ropes.
I'm glad you managed to avoid the reaper, but every single person I know who decided to commute using a bike wound up in the hospital within a year (Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego).
That's like two dozen+ people without a single exception to the contrary. Yes, it's anecdata, but it's quite a lot of anecdata with a strong signal to noise ratio.
Bike infrastructure cannot share with cars given the magnitude of the consequences when the two vehicles interact unintentionally.
I'd ditch 90% of my car use for a bike if I felt safe doing it... but most places in the US you really aren't. A quick google search shows bikers are 2-10x more likely to die per mile, though I didn't delve too deeply into it.