I was on a round the world solo bike tour and hit from behind by a pickup truck near Bend, OR. I had a concussion, 12 broken ribs, 2 collapsed lungs, 2 broken bones in my back and severe bruising over most of my upper body. I was on life support but survived and it's now been 7 years.

I have biked on the road once (on a touring bike) but only briefly and haven't really been on a bike since. Physically I can hike and bike (no running) but just have no interest in sharing the road with cars. I don't believe it will ever be safe and the cars will win so any biking I will do again will be strictly on trails.

On my one short trip on the road (it was in Vancouver and I was biking around Stanley Park but left the park on a busy road) it never really bothered me. City driving is relatively safe since the cars aren't going fast (I was hit on a country road with the truck doing 50/mph. I don't think it's fear stopping me but I lost interest in biking up and down roads, which is why I changed to bike touring in the first place. I would go on another bike tour given the chance but would definitely aim for more remote roads, but that's not always easy.

If you don't fell comfortable, don't go on the roads. It's not worth it.