Bob Gabele

A Fort Lauderdale Cyclist died last weekend and a few of us are looking for the circumstances. All that appeared in the local paper (Sun Sentinel) was that the individual was heading down the Las Olas bridge (a drawbridge with a short incline) and "went over the handlebars". He wasn't wearing a helmet and hit the curb. Blunt trauma to the head and chest killed him.

No, I am not a lawyer!!!!! I am curious though to know if some type of failure caused the accident. A fork snap on a decline (it's easy to hit 30mph on the decline from that bridge) could be pretty hairy.

Any details would be appreciated. At the very least, this should provide additional reinforcemt for those reading to make sure to wear a helmet.

nova

Those are the very kind of accidents helmets are made to protect you in. Blunt trauma is greatly reduced when useing a helmet. I smashed one of my old helmets years ago by stoping on it with boots on. Just to give you a idea of just how strong a helmet can be.
It too me about 5 or 6 very hard stomps to break it. This helmet got ran over by a car in my drive previously. We had a wind storm and it got blown in to my driveway. So 5 or 6 hard stomps to break a helmet that had been ran over. It was a cheapo with i think 9 vents in it. I was prety amazed at just how tuff they realy are. Friend of mine got in a crash and damaged his visable cracks in the styrofoam inside and deap scores in the inside.

We both tried to break it by squeezing it between our hands fron to back and side to side. We cold not break it. These things are tuffer than they look.

So use your helmets people. They will save your life.

AndrewP

Last week I had low blood sugar and lost conciousness while riding home. The first thing I knew about it was waking up in the ER. I had road rash down my back and hip. There were some cracks in the foam on the back of my helmet. The road rash and bruises will be gone in a week or so. The helmet prevented anything worse.

nova

Ohhh a good old skid on the lid crash. Another good example of a helmet doing exactly what its ment to. If you had skidded on your head you could come close to bleeding to death. Maybe not quite but damn close. Ive hear of people skiddings far enough to score their skull in crases as slow as 10 or 15 mph on motorcyles. Old friend of mine had one at 20 mph with a helmet and it scrapped through his new helmet to the point of getting a helmet full of gravel. The er doc said the helmet saved him alot of blood. After looking at the helmet he said that not only would he have had all the skin scoured away but would have likely had deep gouges in his skull. The accident would have most probably een non fatal ither way. But his recovery time was well time he spent in er and that night at home. Had a stiff neck for a couple days. With out helmet hed have had a few days in the hospital and a couple weeks off his motorcyle.

sggoodri

The Ft. Lauderdale endo crash could be

- a front-brake lockup while braking (I did this once when I hit a pothole and, involuntarily I think, clenched my left hand on the lever)

- a front-wheel-diversion-type fall (caused by a grove or pavement edge along the cyclist's direction of travel, or perhaps sand or gravel (the latter happened to me once))

- A curb impact following loss of control or inattention

Steve Goodridge

zaphodbeeblebro

what side of the bridge? I don't live in Ft Lauderdale, but used to spend 2 weeks a year (4 years) training there for my swim team. We would cross that bridge at least 4 times a day every day, and sometimes i walked, i seem to recall there was a little bit of a lip from the metal grating to the street and i can imagine the dificulty controlling a bike on the emtal grating and then hitting the lip at the wrong angle. The curb also goes up like 12-16" across the entire bridge.

Bob Gabele

He was coming down the west side, that's all we know. You're right, there's a big curb on that bridge. I cross it on every ride and have always felt the big risk is getting hit from behind from a driver who can't see you because the AM sun is in his eyes. I've never felt risk going down it though and usually take it at pretty high speeds. This is what makes me wonder if there may have been some sort of failure.

The poignant part is that the family is asking for donations to The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute. I don't care what ANYONE says, you've gotta wear a helmet, especially if you ride in traffic.

EricDJ

I had the brake lock happen on a Jamis. I hit a pothole I couldn't see due to the lighting battery dying on the way home, bent the forks and sent me over into some bushes. Luckily there was no hard pavement involved, still hurt though.