BE WARNED: The dangers of cycling

woodywmb

From the Daily Record:
July 20 and 21

SPEED BUMP KILLS CYCLE MUM
A MUM-OF-THREE died after hitting a speed bump and crashing her mountain bike on a Highland road. Classroom assistant Fiona McCorkindale tumbled off and hit her head. Fiona, 44, of Newtonmore, was cycling with a friend in nearby Kingussie on Sunday when the accident happened. She fell from her bike after riding over a speed bump on the unclassified Pitmain Lodge road at 4pm.


BOY IS SPIKED IN BIKE HORROR
A BOY has had surgery after the handlebars of his bicycle were embedded in his groin. The 13-year-old, who has not been named, fell off the bike after clipping a kerb on Canvey Island, Essex. He was rushed to Southend Hospital for emergency surgery after firefighters cut away the rest of the bike, leaving the handlebars impaled 15cm in his groin.

nicklouse

sounds normal for a day on the bike.

ToMBeMe

Wonder if the mum was wearing a helmet, and 15cm! owch :?

woodywmb

The article never mentioned the word 'helmet'. Surprised that the reporter did not refer to headgear. It's the question cyclists and non-cyclists were sure to ask.

HJ1976

ToMBeMe wrote:

Wonder if the mum was wearing a helmet, and 15cm! owch :?

To be honest that was my first throught, which is why I have always made sure I wear mine in any situation where my daughter and the children in the street will see me- just to try and set an example.

craig rocks

that is why bar ends/caps or thick rubber ends should be standard on all bikes

AndyGates

Doesn't say he didn't have 'em.

craig rocks

i dout it would have gone in to him that far or at all if he had them

dvatc_mark

A young boy was killed last year in our local park when he fell off his bike and the handle bars impaled his heart.

Horrible accident and makes you really think about fitting end caps onto you bars.

Dangerous Dave

Well, they should be. There is a damned good reason why they are compulsory to race in DH.

schmako

Well if everyone had bar ends and wore helemets then we wouldn't have this problem would we?

Father Faff

I'm not so sure - my bro got the brake levers in his groin when he was a kid, not the handlebars and not 15cm so only a few stitches required. Looking at the brake leavers on my current MTBs there's not much to stop them going into soft flesh if you fall on them hard enough.

Dangerous Dave

You're more likely to puncture yourself on the bar end. Think about it. Most brake levers now would probably bend before doing and real serious damage.... handlebars don't bend as much...

ride_whenever

I'm not sure about the brake levers, they are much more likely to pierce you than a plugged bar just because the surface area of contact will be smaller. I've hit brake levers pretty hard and not bent them, doubt they would bend before impaling you. However at least they wont go in as far.

dan1983

A teenage boy from Northumberland is seriously ill in hospital, after becoming impaled on his pedal bike.
The 16-year-old, from Seghill, came off his bike as he was crossing High Pit Road in Cramlington on Sunday evening.

His thigh became impaled on the handlebars, resulting in what Northumbria Police described as a "serious leg injury".


Seems to be a common accident.

Father Faff

Hmmm, think I might get some bar ends for me and the kids!

Dangerous Dave

I see what you mean about the brake lever, and it makes sense to a degree.
However, you have to think that if you fall on your bike, and your bars are sticking up, you're more likely to hit the bar first, THEN the lever. By the time you've hit the lever, you'll have either punctured several organs already (sans bar ends) so you're not going to be worried, or have hit the bar end, get a bruise, and another one off the lever. At worst you'll get a small hole.
Whilst you can get seriously injured by a brake lever if you have an extremely freaky accident, the length of bar is significantly longer than a brake lever, and the diameter is also significantly larger. Which is going to do, yep, you guessed it, considerably more damage than a little brake lever.
I know a few people with bar related injuries, but I know of nobody who had a brake lever injury.