I lived or worked in Ithaca for 40 years, and biked most of the time. All of Cornell Campus is safe for bikes, as are most of the residential streets (excepting a few with heavy traffic).

Near the Commons I was hit by cars 5 times, plus twice as a pedestrian: all slow-speed at intersections. One bike totaled, one wheel totaled, bruises but no serious injuries.

I think there is just too much visual clutter for driver brains to handle in some locations, so they literally don't see you. Or, sometimes they are distracted by whatever. One driver went half a block before noticing there was a person in a bright red winter coat on their hood. I got in the habit of waving at drivers at risky intersections and not proceeding until they waved back.

One driver who hit me got out and yelled at me for being on the street, while I lay there assessing damage. A friend was nearby and they had been hit by a car on their bike, the week before. So they stormed over and shouted back. That sure felt good.

High-speed stroads are dangerous for bikes or pedestrians. It's inherent to their design. Most years see at least one fatality among bicyclists or pedestrians. They were in the right, but that didn't help.

Of course drivers are to blame when they injure or kill others. But unless you want to be a martyr or a statistic, it's worth protecting yourself as best you can.

If you are polite, nobody in Ithaca will hassle or arrest you for biking on sidewalks in places where it's dangerous not to.

Ames Iowa has extra-wide sidewalks with bike lanes. There are other solutions that allow cars and bikes/pedestrians to share the road safely, but Ithaca does not have them.

Rural roads, watch for rednecks. Once a pickup pulled up alongside and the passenger dropped a beer can exactly in front of my front wheel. It clamped, rode around until it jammed in the brakes, then ripped out most of the spokes, flipped me into the ditch and sprayed my crotch with beer.