Melbourne's roads are fundamentally unsafe for bike riders and we need to make big decisions on the value of on-street parking if we want to save lives, according to new research from a traffic engineer.

Dr Cameron Munro analysed VicRoads and Victoria Police crash data involving cyclists in Victoria from 2002 to 2012 to determine the most common causes of bike accidents.

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"Our road system is fundamentally unsafe, and we implicitly trade off serious injury and death to allow us to drive fast and park in the most convenient locations," Dr Munro said.

He said that in urban areas the greatest risk is usually in front of the bike rider - not behind.