Cycling accidents

[lethargic_man]

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):

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	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.

Comments

[jack]

I was thinking something similar, and it occurs to me that I tend to cycle much more cautiously, and (I think) have had fewer accidents or near-accidents. For instance, I don't even try to cycle in snow, and I cycle mostly round Cambridge where it's hard to go that fast, and slow down at the bottom of hills. So maybe your tally of accidents is what you'd expect if you cycle like you mean it.

[naath]

In the past ten years of using my bike as my main transport I estimate I've come off due to adverse weather about 10 times (mostly once per winter...); I've never suffered worse than minor bruises.

I've once been run off the road by a bus into a deep gutter (bruises, scrapes, anger); once cycled into a wall evading a car (trashed frame, no injuries); once cycled into a tree due to drunkenness (trashed forks, no injuries); and once done a somewhat comedy pratfall attempting to get going, turn a sharp corner, and stabilize a poorly arranged load in my basket (damage only to ego).

My mudguards, brakes, bike-luggage, skirts, scarfs, & c. have on many occasions interfered with the normal operation of the bike but so far not in a way that has resulted in any harm to me or the bike.

I don't actually think you've suffered a great many more or a great many worse incidents than I have. But we do seem to have a different outlook on whether this is "a lot" of incidents.

[lethargic_man]

My mudguards, brakes, bike-luggage, skirts, scarfs, & c. have on many occasions interfered with the normal operation of the bike but so far not in a way that has resulted in any harm to me or the bike.

If your scarf is long enough to interfere with operation of the bike, can I urge you to be careful: we don't want you to become a second Isadora Duncan!

If your scarf is long enough to interfere with operation of the bike

[jack]

It's twelve foot long, although normally wrapped round several times and the ends used as gloves :)

[naath]

Long time since it's caught, I wear it more wrapped around now - less tangling.