Back in 1949, a British statistician by the name of R.J. Smeed proposed a relatively simple rule to predict the number of highway deaths that would occur in any given year.

Smeed's Law, as the formula now is known, says that the number of highway deaths each year can be predicted fairly accurately by a formula that involves just two factors: The number of people and the number of cars.

Which means that other factors - the size of the country, the quality of the roads, or the rules and regulations governing traffic - don't matter as much. (We're indebted, by the way, to an article by John Staddon in the July-August issue of The Atlantic for the background on Smeed's Law.)

Smeed's Law hasn't worked as well since the 1960s: Features such as seat belts and air bags have helped to reduce traffic deaths. But there's a downside to these features: As drivers sense that their cars are safer, they tend to take more risks. In addition, The Atlantic article argues it's possible that the proliferation of traffic signs in the United States (including, of course, Corvallis, which loves its traffic signs) actually serves to distract drivers, making the roads more dangerous. But this is a topic for another editorial.

Smeed's Law came to mind as we reviewed our report in Sunday's edition about the reported growth in collisions between automobiles and bicycles.

Smeed himself might have chuckled at one of the obvious causes of the increase: There are undoubtedly more bicycles on the road today than last year.

As the price of gas smashes the $4 barrier, it only makes sense that residents are parking their cars whenever possible and dusting off their bicycles for transportation. More bicycles on the road obviously translates into more accidents involving bikes.

And another factor could be at play: It's likely that some of these bicyclists haven't ridden much for years - and although it may be true that you never forget how to ride a bike, it undoubtedly takes some time to redevelop the street smarts and vision of experienced bicyclists.

Bicyclists routinely complain that motorists still don't really share the road with them, that motorists don't even seem to see them. For their part, motorists frequently note that some bicyclists seem to revel in doing what they can to put themselves into harm's way.

It's time for a truce. Bicycles aren't going away. Neither are automobiles - not any time soon, at least. We're just going to have to learn how to watch out for each other.

After all, watching out for each other is one of the principles that we try to live up to as a community, right? It only makes sense that it should apply to our roadways, as well.