I recently spent 6 weeks in Sydney and rode my son's second bike
with no problem. He rides to work every day and not infrequently
gets abused by yahoos in cars yelling at him to ride on the foot
path - which is illegal if you're over 12. Getting yelled at is
not dangerous though.
He says cars are scared of colliding with bikes, so it's not that
dangerous in general. His route is in large part along a motorway,
where there is quite a wide edge strip for him, and he enjoys going
faster than the cars queued up. He gets to work faster than if he
took the car.
Having said that, though, I must say I like Danish cycling better,
what with all the cycle paths almost everywhere. Much easier.
--
Dieter Britz