There are a number of factors involved - skill, attitude and infrastructure are my top three.
I'm not going to let my 4-year-old ride on the road until he's got some good basic skills - no wobbling around near cars, please. Adults getting back on the bike need safe places to test-drive, too.
Attitudes - unfortunately, we hear of many near-misses featuring selfish cyclists and inconsiderate drivers. For eight people killed in 2013 while riding a bike - regardless of who was to blame - they leave eight networks of families and friends to grieve, with 2014's first victim the father of four children.
But the most important thing for safe cycling is infrastructure which can make up for a lack of skill and even attitude, to some extent.
Providing separate cycle lanes, tracks and intersections, especially in priority black spots, to protect cyclists from trucks and cars is a good, yet obvious, idea.
I'd like to see more tolerance and less abuse between road users, too - cyclists have a right to be on the road, regardless of the fact we've all encountered an idiot or two giving cyclists a bad name.
While the rate of cyclists' deaths has halved in the past decade, more could be done. If we consider the social cost of a life as about $4.5 million - as estimated by the Ministry of Transport - more should be done.
Without aiming to feed the trolls, it's time to talk smacking ...
I don't smack my kids. My mum didn't smack me, and her mum didn't smack her. It's possible to grow up in New Zealand without being smacked.
Now are my kids, my mum and I spoilt little toads who represent what is fundamentally wrong with society today?
I can't boast: "I got a few hidings and it didn't hurt me" - but I don't feel like I'm missing out.
To me, smacking is a form of violence, albeit at the lesser end of the spectrum. I believe raising children using violence or the threat of violence is harmful.
I've just read a 2006 review by Otago University's Anne Smith of research into the effects of physical punishment and it reinforces this view.
Those who are outspoken about "the right to smack" seem weirdly proud to say they physically hurt their small children. It doesn't make sense to me.
There are other ways to create boundaries - and parents who smack probably use those other ways more often than not, so know what I mean. If you need help to try a different way of discipline, there are positive parenting groups available like SKIP.
It's time to retire smacking. It's not acceptable in the office when I get frustrated; it's not acceptable at home when I'm annoyed at my husband; and it's not acceptable when my occasionally-not-delightful children are pushing me to the brink with their whining and squabbles.
Don't teach your kids that a rap on the knuckles is how to deal with tough situations because it is not an option once you're all the same size. Start teaching them now there are other ways to cope.
Nicola Young is a former Department of Conservation manager who now works for global consultancy AECOM. Educated at Wanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.
