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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/22/MNU3VOB22.DTL&hw=bicycle&sn=001&sc=1000 " Data collected by the California Highway Patrol show that bicyclists were deemed at fault in 1,165, or nearly 60 percent, of the 1,997 accidents that killed or severely injured cyclists; drivers were blamed only 520 times, or 26 percent. In most other cases, no one was listed as being at fault." FWIW I always try to be aware of the cyclists zooming around downtown. I've seen MANY near-misses (with cars and pedestrians) almost all of which have been the cyclist violating a traffic law. I'm sure some cyclists obey all the laws, but I've never actually seen one.

The article that you have linked to has statistics that do not even remotely correlate with my own experience. Bay area cyclists may have a culture that encourages bad behavior or persons quoted in the article may have a valid point.

I quote from the article:
“Bicycling advocates said the statistics might in part reflect a bias among police officers, who they say often “blame the victims,” especially because cyclists might not get to tell their side of the story as they are being carried off on stretchers.

“There is a prevalent perception among police officers that bikes don't belong on the road,” said Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

Yet even the most staunch cycling advocates acknowledge that some cyclists give others a bad name by failing to obey traffic laws.

“When I see a rider run a red light, I cringe,” Shahum said. “Not only is it totally unsafe, it makes me and all other cyclists look bad.”

After reading the article a second time my experience may correlate more closely with the statistics cited. I have been to very few cycling fatalities and quite a few injuries. The first cyclist fatality that I went to... the cyclist slowed and swerved further into the roadway to cross railroad tracks at a perpendicular angle. A semi-truck doing approximately 40 mph struck him and he was killed. The driver said he never even saw the cyclist. In that case the cyclist was found to be at fault.

I have been to other incidents that where cyclists have been hit from behind and the drivers have not been ticketed. I am also aware of situations where drivers have not noticed a cyclist as they were entering the roadway from a driveway or side street and have pulled into the path of an oncoming cyclist where the officer did not issue a ticket because they felt the cyclist was difficult to see. I once went to an accident where a cyclist had a green light and was struck by a car who entered the crosswalk on the red, where the officer determined the cyclist was at fault because he said the cyclist should have been walking in the crosswalk not riding.

So my perception of who was at fault at a bicycle vs motor vehicle accident may sometimes vary greatly from the investigating police officer. In my point of view, a motor vehicle who strikes a cyclist from behind is usually at fault. If a car takes a right turn when there is a cyclist next to him... it is the car's fault. If a car makes a left turn in front of a cyclist because the driver didn't see him... it is the car's fault. If a car pulls out of a driveway into the path of a cyclist... it is the car's fault. In all of these scenarios I am aware of many situations where no ticket was issued to the car.

As many of those hostile to cyclists posted in this very thread, dead cyclists tell no tales, so the victim is often blamed for the accident. So on second thought I am not so surprised by the statistics cited.