On Wed, 30 Jan 2019 03:30:01 -0800 (PST)
Simon Jester wrote:

'Common sense' says I should use the road through town rather than
the bypass. This is because most people think the biggest danger to
cyclists is being hit from behind by a large vehicle. In reality it
is 'conflict points' that kill cyclists where motor vehicles and
cyclists cross paths.

Indeed "common sense" says you're safer on a pavement cycle path,
ignoring the higher risk at every road junction or crossing.
But while that's often or perhaps mostly risk occurring at recognised
conflict points, there is still a danger that a driver approaching
from behind just doesn't "see" a cyclist (i.e. brain doesn't register
presence of another road user, or perhaps "low sun") and they try to
occupy the same space at the same time. It happened to a lad from a
local club - he was riding along a dual carriageway on a sunny
afternoon in "secondary" and moderate traffic when a car drove right
over him. Luckily he survived but it made a right mess of his leg. That
was back in the early nineties, before every tenth driver was looking
at his phone.