Tuesday, July 9th, 2013

Cycling accidents

Tuesday, July 9th, 2013 12:01 pm
lethargic_man: (bike)

I wrote the other week:

I'm a bit concerned that I seem to be coming off my bike so much; I don't get the impression from other cyclists that they have so many accidents. Some of them are of course my fault [...], and some bad luck [...], but still.
I'm aware that my reaction to this might be coloured by having come off my bike twice this year, and twice in rapid succession one and a half gosh, two and a half years ago, so I thought I ought to quantify that I'm talking about, to see if I'm being unreasonable.

And the result (colour-coded, so you might need to click through to the post if it appears in your f-list on an unhelpfully-coloured background):

DateCauseMy fault?Other person involved/at fault?Pure Bad luck?Injuries
1981ish Used front brakes only on reaching foot of hill Skin loss and bruises
1988ish Lost control and fell off; possibly for same reason as Nov. 2000 incident Skin loss and bruises
1989ish [livejournal.com profile] bluepork's friend tried to pass his skateboard between my wheels as I cycled past Skin loss and bruises
1998 Went around corner too fast at bottom of hill Grass stains only: controlled landing
May 2000 Went around corner too fast at bottom of hill (I was a slow learner due to escaping unharmed the previous time!) Grass stains only: controlled landing
November 2000 Foot slipped off pedal, and didn't have enough centrifugal force to keep upright Tore fingernail out
January? 2002 Pedestrian stepped out onto the road in front of me None, thanks to bike helmet
March 2003 Hit-and-run driver turned left immediately in front of me Skin loss and bruises
March 2005 Lost traction on snow ✓ (for cycling on snow) Only a minor graze, because ground covered in snow
March 2006 Driver performed U-turn into my path ? ✓/? Minor grazes, but derailleur sheared off
August 2007 Handlebars snagged by street cleaner's bag blown out by the wind ✓/✗ None, thanks to bike helmet, but derailleur needed adjustment
January 2011 Front mudguard hit wheel ✓ (for not recognising bike fault) ? Skin loss and bruises
January 2011 Front mudguard hit wheel ✓ (for not recognising bike fault) ? Skin loss and bruises
December 2012 Came off on black ice while stopping to help other cyclist who'd done same ✗ (sort of!) ? Mild skin loss and mild bruising
June 2013 Knocked off by motorist turning across my path Skin loss and bruises

And the conclusion? Well, what do you think; do you think I am coming off my bike too much (compared to, for instance, yourself)*, or just unlucky, or a risk-prone road user?

* Given that the above covers several hundred miles as a child/teenager, a gap when I wasn't cycling between 1989 and 1996, about 5000 miles in Edinburgh between 1996 and 2000, and over 21,000 miles in London since then.

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