[dwpdwpdwpdwpdwp]

>And now you know why riding with body armor is pointless.

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.

[raegis]

Ironically, I used to ride without a helmet, but only started when I moved to Los Angeles and had a few near-misses. Drivers here have a different idea about sharing the road than elsewhere. Biking fast through an intersection when a car traveling in the opposite direction is waiting to turn left is a recipe for disaster--they never want to wait, so I like to yield even when I have the right of way.