I've been riding bikes for 40+ years.
From 50cc back in the day at school, to offroad bikes, scooters (Vespa is a POS in my opinion, Beewizz is fkn awesome), "sensible commuters", dual purpose and superbikes.
Commuted plenty, done some enduro rides, some MX (both as "fun days = weekend warrior race days", not competitively), lots of offroad rides with mates and our sons, long distance road trips, scratching mountain passes and track days as well as babysitting middle aged twerps on bicycles aka marshalling of rides like the 94.7 etc. (Cycling has practically replaced golf as the middle-aged pursuit of choice theses days, for those who didn't know
). Even done a fair bit of training of novice (and some seasoned, but unskilled) riders.
I can count on one hand how many times when riding on the road I've had to accelerate to get out of trouble or danger. That phrase is as common a biking folklore as "I couldn't avoid the crash so I just laid the bike down" and IMO shows a skills deficit on the part of the rider, no matter how they try and justify it. And yes, in each instance my skills were lacking, even if I did not think so at the time.
Insofar as "accidents" - more like falling off, or exceeding my skills go:
Offroad - lots, with some eina injuries.
Track - a few, also some eina injuries, but never as bad as offroad, as there are less rocks and trees and other shit on a track 😂.
I have never had an accident due to someone else being at fault on the road.
Have had 3 road accidents: 1 was when the POS Suzuki GS450 twin decided to throw a rod on the N1/N12 split whilst en route back to base in Potch during National Service (I've never owned a Zook since then), another where I grabbed a handful of brakes and lost the front when someone jumped a stop street ahead of me (reflection and examination after the fact showed I could easily have stopped in time if I knew how to brake properly) and the third when I overcooked a corner on the 22 in Mpumalanga.
Training. Training. Training. I am a staunch advocate of training. Both car and bike, but let's be real, bike training is far more likely to save your life or limb.
Do a track day. Or more. Many more. You learn that the bikes capabilities far exceed what you thought they were, and you also improve your skills and confidence as the instructors know their shit.
California Superbike School was the most advanced track training I did & it was amazing what those guys (it's 1 instructor to 3 or 4 riders) can teach you.
Road training. AKA Defensive rider training. Learn how to emergency brake, including using the back brake. Or front brake (You'll be amazed how many riders won't use one or the other ever). Learn road and lane position. Learn to constantly scan your mirrors when at a standstill so you don't get rear-ended. Learn the 30 second sweep (used in a car as well).
Learn countersteering. Learn SIPDE. Learn how to brake in a corner when lent over.
Learn how to do all of that in the rain too.
Then practice, and redo the course/s a number of times over a year or two - your practical skills will improve beyond belief.
Then do a refresher every few years, because like all humans we get complacent, forgetful and yes, lazy.
I also used to be a big advocate of ATGATT, but now mostly apply that to track, offroad and mountain scratching. Your leather/Kevlar jacket and pants when commuting are of minimal help when you hit a solid object (or one hits you). They only really help if you land up sliding down the road, which is 99% of the time due to your own error anyhow and a seldom occurrence when commuting in traffic.
@Dom - nowhere (I may have missed it) in this thread have I seen any mention of budget for training.
Work on at least R2k a day, plus getting there & back (Zwartkop and/or Redstar for basic bike training & handling if in GP), plus food and refreshments for the day.
My advice would be to do a minimum of 2 of those days, then defensive rider training (Gerotek or on the road) and budget for at least two of those at the
That all said (typed). As many others have stated, you will regret selling the car to replace it with the bike. Try, by whatever means possible, not to do so.
One of your reasons for selling the car was to put more funds toward medical insurance. Please realise that whatever level of medical insurance you are currently on, you should probably up it by at least 2 levels to mitigate costs should you have a middling to serious accident on the bike.