as someone who has been hit by a car while walking, i'd rather have been hit by a bike...
There's plenty of protruding things without a cover like handlebars, at same speed you have a better chance to survive if hit by a car due to distribution of impact force.
I'm biking the whole year, sometimes people cross street or bike lane without watching and get impaled, even though I have resting handles on the end of the handlebars.
Once a guy got a deep 1cm puncture would below ribs, even though he wore a jacket and wasn't going fast at all...