Fifty Plus (50+) - question about crashing with clipless versus platform pedals

I had a crash today on my new jamis quest - I apparently hit a stick that got caught in my spokes and bam. I went right over the top of the handlebars, cracked the front of my helmet , lost skin on both hands (thank goodness for gloves), split my lip and have a big bruise on my chin, and lost a fair bit of flesh on both my shoulder and my elbow. My question is are injuries different with clipless than without - I was clipped in -but I wonder if I would have fallen differently and gotten smashed/hurt less with regular pedals?

From talking with friends who have crashed and having had a (blessedly) few but (unfortunately) significant experiences myself, I doubt that it makes much of a difference. As a practical matter, if there are any twisting forces involved, your feet come out of the clipless pedals. Obviously, with platforms sans toeclips and straps, your feet and the bike part company pretty much right now. Even in the old days of toeclips, straps pulled tight and cleats, somehow ones feet came out in most crashes. Either way, any injury from the bike itself is going to be a matter of whether the thing clonks you during the event, and that is pretty much a matter of luck of the draw. FWIW, neither I nor anyone I know have ever been hurt by the bike in a crash - the ground, of course, is a different story.

For the crash you describe, I seriously doubt that the type of pedals had anything to do with with what injuries you suffered or didn't suffer. You describe exactly the kind of injuries I would expect from an over-the-top dive. In your event, about the worst thing the bike mnight have done is give you a bruise or two in the back, which is pretty much meaningless compared to the other stuff.

So keep clicking into those pedals, and I hope you heal fast and are back on the bike soon.

From my own experience of high speed falls with clipless- there is one definite advantage. The falls happen so quickly, that the feet do not come out of the pedals untill impact. This means that you do not have a foot become detached from the pedal and get damaged by hitting the road- or the trail. Offroad I am often falling and I rarely know that I am going over- whether it be just a sideways fall or over the bars. I have even gone over the bars and finished up with a problem of getting unclipped whilst upside down.

So far I have not come off the road bike- at any speed although I come close a few times but if I Know-or think- I am coming off- It is ram the feet into the pedals and grab hold of the bars tight. Then I am not tempted to put out an arm or a leg to save the fall and breaking bones