L2B crash - gald I wore a helmet
I'm not particularly pleased this is my first post on these forums but a shot in the dark and any help appreciated if anyone saw what happened...
I was clipped by some idiot about 35 miles out of London just before marshall point 75 at 11:45 on Sunday. On a long downhill doing about 30mph a bloke shot up on my left between me and another cyclist in a gap that wasn't there and clipped my left handlebar.
I went flying, no broken bones only by good fortune but I'm a hell of a lot grazed, cut and bruised with broken teeth. I can barely walk at the moment and I'm in a lot of pain. I'd be in at least a coma, if not dead, if I'd not been wearing my helmet. I know it causes some debate on here but there's no excuse not to wear one.
The thing that really pees me off is that the bloke didn't stop to see if I was OK except to say to a marshall that he'd knocked someone off. The Marshall saw the incident but didn't think to take down the number of the cyclist that knocked me off and when I asked him what he looked like he said 'dunno'. It's a long shot but if anyone saw anything I would love to get in contact with him if nothing else to cover my dental costs and repairs to my bike.
Final word of thanks to the two gents that helped me up in a daze and got me and my bike off the road.
I was clipped by some idiot about 35 miles out of London just before marshall point 75 at 11:45 on Sunday. On a long downhill doing about 30mph a bloke shot up on my left between me and another cyclist in a gap that wasn't there and clipped my left handlebar.
I went flying, no broken bones only by good fortune but I'm a hell of a lot grazed, cut and bruised with broken teeth. I can barely walk at the moment and I'm in a lot of pain. I'd be in at least a coma, if not dead, if I'd not been wearing my helmet. I know it causes some debate on here but there's no excuse not to wear one.
The thing that really pees me off is that the bloke didn't stop to see if I was OK except to say to a marshall that he'd knocked someone off. The Marshall saw the incident but didn't think to take down the number of the cyclist that knocked me off and when I asked him what he looked like he said 'dunno'. It's a long shot but if anyone saw anything I would love to get in contact with him if nothing else to cover my dental costs and repairs to my bike.
Final word of thanks to the two gents that helped me up in a daze and got me and my bike off the road.
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Comments
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Ah, nice to meet you.
You want that we deal with this clown who disarespect you?
God told me to skin you alive.
http://www.ekroadclub.co.uk/God told me to skin you alive.
http://www.ekroadclub.co.uk/0 -
papercorn2000 - get a bloody life mate, drugs is it, yes ?
'Ran - all the best man: I'm amazed to hear this though I would have expected more respect in this event that this ! ! !
What a total ****er this bloke was !!!
[;)] 'tuono nel mio cuore...[:)][;)] \'tuono nel mio cuore...[:)]0 -
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I'd be in at least a coma, if not dead, if I'd not been wearing my helmet.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
How do you know this?0 -
Papercorn2000 F-off you tw@t, that's plain out of order[:(!]
ranarama
If you were one of the 3 I saw yesterday being attended too, I'm glad to hear that you are with us. There were a few very nasty accidents all within a few miles of each other yesterday. Very sobering.
I saw nothing of the incidents, only the aftermath. Am amazed that the guy did not bother to come-back to check that you were OK, but then human nature rarely fails to amaze me these days (I think P2000's comments demonstrates that adequately).
I hope you get somewhere with your quest and make a good and speedy recovery.
The pessimists of this world are rarely disappointed....
Fab's TCR10 -
Sorry to hear about this incident.. I saw 4 accidents yesterday, 2 of which resulted in the riders being carted off in an ambulance. I hope you make a speedy and full recovery
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That sucks big time. Sadly, I suspect your chances of finding the guy are next to nil.
I'm not a fan of mass participation events because of the risks involved. There are too many clowns in all walks of life, so I try to limit my contact with them!
Actually, I thought papercorn2000 was being funny. I read it as mock gangster speak.0 -
Thats why I wont do these rides. Its a shame the marshall didnt get his number and thats well out of order that he didnt stop and help you. Hope you have a speedy recovery, remember what goes around comes around. If he cycles like that all the time it wont be long before he gets his.
"People setting the pace too fast on the front are abused to slow down. Riders that do not share the work are abused. Riders that need abuse get abused and the abuse is done in every language so they get the message"0 -
I'm dreading this sort thing for the first few miles of the London Etape. I've got a feeling there is going to be a lot of people trying to prove how fast they are before blowing up.
Ran, hope you make a speedy recovery. The event organisers should have insurance cover, can you make a claim from them?0 -
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by ranarama</i>
there's no excuse not to wear one.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Sorry to hear of your off.
I had an off at speed a few weeks ago. Your statement above would be entirely wrong in my case.
All crashes are individual.
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"It was an accident. it happens" that really helps, it may have been unintentional but doing what he did it was very likely. Ranarama, ggood luck, in my first sportivif I had someone rear end me as thet weren't paying attention but luckily not hurt.
On the 8th day God made a bicycle, and he saw that it was good. (actually personally he thought it was his best invention yet)0 -
Look beyond the accident. The OP wants to have the damage repair paid for and the dental fees covered.
What next?
I really do think that sometimes things happen and we have to take it on the chin, not look to sue someone for our misfortune.
Mleh Mleh Mleh0 -
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Steve Austin</i>
Look beyond the accident. The OP wants to have the damage repair paid for and the dental fees covered.
What next?
I really do think that sometimes things happen and we have to take it on the chin, not look to sue someone for our misfortune.
Mleh Mleh Mleh
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Somebody knocked him off and it's going to cost him, why should he pay? When a car take you out will you get up and say "fair enough" accidents happen? Probably not.0 -
How much of the accident was due to him going 30mph on a downhill on a ride with 10s of thousands of riders of mixed ability and experience.
I could claim off the council because the road surface was greasy where I fell off?
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saw some pretty nasty accidents when the rain ame in towards brighton, two guys went flying past me down towards a steep left hander, the next thing i saw was them in a ditch, also saw a guy go into the back of another cyclist.
luckily both were wearing helmets.
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Cheers for the positive comments folks.
dbq - I know that because the impact that smashed my helmet to bits caused fairly substantial damage to my head as it was. All the medics that attended to me said that I wouldn't be talking to them if it wasn't for the helmet. They have had a lot of experience (most I spoke to with 10+ years of the L2B) from picking people up off the road after accidents like this involving cyclists with and without helmets on. While I was waiting for the recovery bus an ambulance went past with a three police bike escort. The bloke inside wasn't wearing a helmet when he came off. All the people in the 'recovery bus' back to Brighton were all bruised, sore and scraped but all were concious and all were wearing helmets.
If you don't like wearing a helmet that's your problem but I don't understand why people would want to put themselves in unnecessary danger.
Steve Austin - Taking it on the chin is probably what I'll have to do but someone's left the scene of an accident they caused - an offence in itself never mind the moral aspect of it. It wasn't misfortune, it was an avoidable collision caused by someone riding carelessly and dangerously. I'm off work for a week and I'm feeling quite bitter towards him.
Jaded - I was keeping at the same speed as the majority on that downhill. The bloke was overtaking me, not the other way round.0 -
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by ranarama</i>
Jaded - I was keeping at the same speed as the majority on that downhill. The bloke was overtaking me, not the other way round.
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Yes, but you were riding at speed with a group of riders of mixed ability and experience. You say about non-helmet wearers "I don't understand why people would want to put themselves in unnecessary danger."
The same could be asked of you.
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Fair point - it felt safe given the number of riders around and ahead of me and my fall was not due to my speed it was because of another rider's ridiculous actions. If I did the L2B again I would definitely slow down on the downhill sections though.0
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I'll also take the hill that I fell off on a bit slower next time!
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I think the marshall made a mistake to not take the rider's number. Technically that was a hit and run accident, despite a car not being involved - bikes are road vehicles too, in the eyes of the law.
<font color="black">london</font id="black"><font color="red">phoenix</font id="red"><font color="black">.co.uk</font id="black">0 -
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by halfords wizzkid</i>
saw some pretty nasty accidents when the rain ame in towards brighton, two guys went flying past me down towards a steep left hander, the next thing i saw was them in a ditch, also saw a guy go into the back of another cyclist.
luckily both were wearing helmets.
http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z241/ashh2_album/
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Do you think they might have been going a bit slower if they weren't wearing helmets?0 -
bin the helmet debate.
Poor bloke has been knocked off his bike and deserves some sympathy. The turd who did it and rode off deserves an ironing. Simple.0 -
Last time I looked the helmet was a key part of the thread title and post.
Having said that, it has been largely dealt with already. [:D]
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My sympathies, ranarama. I hope you recover well - breaking teeth is really horrible and i'm slightly amazed by some of the callous replies to your post. I would never do L2B again unless I started near the front and stayed there so I could get some clear space and ride with the more experienced people. The whole thing is so dangerous in a massive crowd of newbies, especially the downhill bits which are just lethal. I can't see what's fun about it. I'd much rather cycle up Ditchling Beacon on my own instead of being brought to a halt by all the people walking. I suppose it's interesting the first time, but...anyway, I'm just an antisocial b#gger i suppose.
As for the helmet remarks, I'm even more amazed by the people who like to theorize that helmets are useless when they know none of the details of the accident or the injury. They always seem to be people who've never had a head injury! I hate wearing a helmet but took it up 3 years ago AFTER I fractured my skull by bashing my temple on the road. I am absolutely certain I would have been fine if I'd been wearing a helmet. Brain damage lasts forever and I won't risk not wearing a helmet again.<hr>
<h6>What\'s the point of going out? We\'re just going to end up back here anyway</h6>0 -
BentMikey can you back that up with some facts? I'd have been in all sorts of trouble if I hadn't worn a helmet. Explain how my life would be enhanced right now as I'm struggling to understand how whacking my head against tarmac at 30mph is better without a helmet than with.0
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ranarama, you are looknig at one crash and extrapolating it up to population level.
I could do that same with my off of a few weeks ago. I am DEFINITELY better off becasue I didn't wear a helmet. I would be in traction with a neck injury if I had been wawering one. I could extrapolate my crash up to population level, but I don't. That's something that 'helmet saved my life' claimers do.
When helemets have been made compulsory there has been no change in the injury rate. If helmets did work, this wouldn't happen.
There will be other factors at work:
A helmet makes your head bigger and heavier, therefore more likely to hit the gorund in a crash
A helmet may make you take bigger risks - go down hill faster, for example
A helmet may make drivers behave differently towards you
there is a lot of discussion out there on both sides. I like people to make their own minds up, which is why I don't apply my experiences to others.
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I was worried flying down the downhill on the L2B too simply because of the wobblers around.
"A helmet makes your head bigger and heavier, therefore more likely to hit the gorund in a crash"
Surely if I flew off my bike and went head first into the curbs, a helmet would be a GOOD thing right?0 -
No, because helmets are pretty poor at dealing with curb/head interfaces. They aren't designed for that.
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Sorry to hear about the injuries.
As far as compensation goes it sounds like a racing accident - you take part in a mass participation event I think you have to accept that another participant may make a mistake. I know L2B isn't a race but the same principles apply.
There's an issue that what some people may think acceptable contact - say banging shoulders - may have another rider off because they aren't used to it.
Warning about well known bike shop removed at request of moderators.
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.0
