Thanks gillymor. Either that or I'm fully sick - whatever that really means. :-D

I think car drivers are more of a problem than cyclists, most of the time. Just look at the dashcam video sites for some hairy/scary examples. I have footage from last week of some dangerous driving which I could upload and it is truly hair-raising.

I don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. Cycling is healthy (assuming the air pollution from nearby vehicles isn't too much for the rider to breathe), and it is good for the climate. The majority of cyclists I have seen on the roads are good road-citizens, but a small minority do stupid things. If drivers and cyclists interact peacefully and cooperatively, all's good with the world. There is more danger for cyclists from cars than the other way around.

I saw the aftermath of one fatal accident where a cyclist died. The news report said that he had been riding in the cycle lane, in the dark before sunrise on a major non-metropolitan road with a speed limit of 80 kph (50 mph). That particular piece of road does not have a good level of street lighting. He was doing the right thing - apart from riding in the dark - but a piece of wood had been possibly thrown off the back of a truck and it was in the middle of the cycle lane, perpendicular to the cyclist's direction of travel. It was not visible to the cyclist in the dark and his front wheel pitched forward, he landed face first on the tarred road and apparently died immediately.

Personally, I would not be riding at speed in the dark, with minimal street lighting on a major road with high speed levels. Those type of MAMILS are an endangered species, but the majority seem to do okay.