>>As a bicyclist, I recognize that I don’t want to be dead right and stay out of the way of big vehicles, especially in cities.<<
Speed is what concerns me. In the city I am usually going faster than the cars. That said, my stepson was a bike messenger in downtown Seattle for a few years and attended two funerals for friends. Both involved the bike rider getting taken out by someone running a red light. In one case it was the car that ran the light. In the other it was the cyclist that did. For me, it’s about relative speed, coupled with the speed at which I am at risk of hitting the ground.
‘Course, I’m 56 and things under my skin may break easier than they would have when I was made out of rubber.
The Laws of Physics are not just a good idea, they are THE LAW.
Stay out of the way of large objects moving at relatively high speeds.
QED.