Cycling accidents
Tuesday, July 9th, 2013 12:01 pmI 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
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):
Date | Cause | My 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 | ![]() |
✗ | ✓ | ✗ | 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.