The other day I was told that back in the 70s the Consumer Product Safety Commission was created to regulate hazardous products, like baby pajamas with cancer-causing flame redardant chemicals.
I was also told that the same commision declared that bicycles are hazardous substances. I decide to look this up.
Bicycles rank number one on the Commission's product hazard index. Injury experts state that over one million children and adults are injured each year in bike related accidents. The Commission estimates that in 1973, 419,000 persons sought hospital emergency room treatment for injuries associated with bicycles.
Analysis of injuries in Commission files indicate that about 17 percent are directly attributable to mechanical and structural failures, including brake defects, wheel disengagement, steering, shifting and chain problems. Sixty-three percent are related to loss of control and 10 percent to entanglement of body parts in bike components. Some of these accidents also may be reduced by the new safety regulations.
This was the climate in which John Forester started his crusade.
Being declared a hazardous product, the CPSC was able to regulate bicycles in interstate commerce (hence the 10 reflectors required on any bicycle being shipped in a box in a truck, but that are no longer being required once the bicycle is taken out of the box).
trackhub
05-23-06, 05:20 PM
Thanks for the info HH. This is the type of thing that makes people think about that old joke: The most scary words you'll ever hear are "I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help".
On reflectors: Ever hear someone ( a parent, typically) say "Oh it doesn't need a headlight. it has reflectors!". ?
I-Like-To-Bike
05-23-06, 07:15 PM
On reflectors: Ever hear someone ( a parent, typically) say "Oh it doesn't need a headlight. it has reflectors!". ?
No.
CommuterRun
05-23-06, 07:28 PM
Analysis of injuries in Commission files indicate that about 17 percent are directly attributable to mechanical and structural failures, including brake defects, wheel disengagement, steering, shifting and chain problems.
Lack of maintenance.
Sixty-three percent are related to loss of control
Stunt riding and excessive speed for conditions.
and 10 percent to entanglement of body parts in bike components.
Don't stick your finger in the spokes while the wheel is spinning.
How many more regulations do we need, then and now, to protect people from themselves?
"I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help".
:D
sgtsmile
05-23-06, 09:05 PM
Douglas Adams said it well when he quoted (or made up, whatever) the instructions for toothpick use..... spookie
Knudsen
05-23-06, 09:14 PM
Hell, it was the 70's. Who didn't get their foot caught in the spokes riding tripple on a stingray? Lucky if you got the backseat ride and just got your toes in the chain. Yup toes, shoes were for sissies! LOL Nice find!
Roody
05-23-06, 09:24 PM
Many more accidents occur when using automobiles, but they were not classified as dangerous products. The difference is that bicycles are thought of as toys; cars are considered to be vehicles. Serge, it's all just part of "the notion."
mac
05-23-06, 09:32 PM
10 reflectors? WTF?
Front
Back
Front wheel left side
Front wheel right side
Rear wheel left side
Rear wheel right side
Left pedal front?
Left pedal back?
Right pedal front?
Right pedal back?
I rip them all off my bike and use lights and a vest.
alanbikehouston
05-23-06, 09:36 PM
Yup, it is always big laughs when a little kid gets hurt on a bike. We don't want any rules or regulations to interfere with our fun.
I was doing some minor repair work on two bikes designed for five year old boys. One was a Trek, and the other was a neighbor kid's Wal-Mart bike. The Trek had numerous safety features that made it more difficult to get a finger or toe caught in the chain or in the chain wheel. The stem and bars stayed were they were put. The brakes worked well.
The Wal-Mart bike had little finger sized cut-outs on the chain wheel. An uncovered chain. Stem and bars that move when you push on them. Brakes that did not work as well as dragging a foot.
But, don't let the government set or enforce safety standards for bikes. America is a free country, and if a five year old boy wants to lose a finger or toe, or run his brake-less bike under a truck...well, that is what freedom is all about.
Roody
05-24-06, 12:11 AM
Alan, I agree that a child's bike is a toy and should be regulated as such. But the same regulations are not suitable for adult bikes, which are vehicles.
Bekologist
05-24-06, 12:23 AM
adult bikes made of cheap, tawainese 7/8" gaspipe are as patently unsafe as the children's versions....just bigger.
Mos6502
05-24-06, 01:56 AM
I actually read a 1972 Consumer Reports article on bicycles just a couple days ago, I'm not sure if there are any bikes that still have these problems, but CR found that several brands had a nasty habbit of having the rear brakes jam into and get caught in the seat stays - resulting usually in a much faster and messier stop than the rider had intended, some pedals afforded no traction at all when wet, brake cables stretched enough to contact the handle bars when the brakes were applied no matter how tightly the cable was adjusted - and they had to send their Iversons back to the factory several times because the frames were built so poorly that they couldn't get the bicycles to track straight! (add to this they found that most of their bicycles came with shoddy headsets and handlebars that were too weak).
Such was the state of the lower end and mid range bicycles at that period that it's no wonder the cpsc rated them at the top of their hazards back then.
Helmet Head
05-24-06, 02:02 AM
The CPSC requires front and rear reflectors on pedals of bikes shipped by truck in the U.S. It isn't the CPSC that brought about any real safety improvements in bikes.
AndrewP
05-24-06, 07:46 AM
What about the lips on the fork dropouts
CB HI
05-24-06, 02:15 PM
Lawyer lips came from lawsuits. Some people could not put their quick release on properly.
catatonic
05-24-06, 02:59 PM
Analysis of injuries in Commission files indicate that about 17 percent are directly attributable to mechanical and structural failures, including brake defects, wheel disengagement, steering, shifting and chain problems. Sixty-three percent are related to loss of control and 10 percent to entanglement of body parts in bike components
First, let's separate a product safety issue and a user error.
Product defect: A flaw in the engineering and PROFESSIONAL ASSEMBLY of a product that results in a crash or injury.
User error: A flaw in OWNER ASSEMBLY, USE OR MAINTENANCE, that results in a crash or injury.
brake defects: If it's teh caliper distorting, then it's a product safety issue....if it's worn pads or damaged cables, that is a user error.
Wheel disengagement: unless a threaded axle broke, or a QR broke, it's user error.
Steering: user error...quit riding bikes that are too small, to where your knees almost hit your hands.
Shifting and chain problems: almost exclusively user error. Learn to take care of your posessions, and your posessions might take care of you.
Loss of control is usually user erros, based on the above, and getting tangled in parts cna fall under that as well.
Two items I do find unsafe though are the sidepull calipers found on many x-mart bikes, as well as the cheap-ass plastic trap pedals used. Those plastic trap pedals have little to no traction, and are really easy to have a foot slide off of. As for safety in event of the foot sliding off and having the pedal dig into a leg, plastic pedals are often just as bad, or worse (due to the dirt that gets ingrained in all the fine shreddings that form on the pedal through use).
Metal "trap" pedals, MTB style, and some decent sidepull calipers would make these bikes far safer...that and quality cables/housing would ensure better shifting through the life of the bike.
Brian Ratliff
05-24-06, 03:26 PM
Many more accidents occur when using automobiles, but they were not classified as dangerous products. The difference is that bicycles are thought of as toys; cars are considered to be vehicles. Serge, it's all just part of "the notion."
Actually, there are numerous safety requirements for cars. Most of the accidents involving cars involve user errors. Cars are actually quite safe coming right from the factory. It's the idiot behind the wheel which makes a car dangerous.
Some bikes, as people have pointed out, are defective to the point of being dangerous. If anything, the CPSC is too soft on the actual mechanical requirements for bicycles sold in the US.
sbhikes
05-24-06, 03:48 PM
In 1970 I got my arm caught in the spokes.
In 1981 I flew over the handlebars because the reflector in my front spokes came apart and jammed my front wheel while I was riding.
Thank god for Forrester and his good work!
AndrewP
05-24-06, 09:10 PM
The most dangerous part on a car is the nut behind the wheel