Living Car Free - How often do you crash?

The statistics I've seen indicate that, in the US, the fatalities per million miles traveled are higher for bicyclists than they are for motorists. However, the fatalities per million hours of use are lower for bicyclists than they are for motorists. My best guess is that a bike is no more or less safe than driving; it really just depends on the driver/bicyclist, and maybe a bit of luck. However, my personal experience is that accidents do happen, and the more time you spend on a bike, the greater the likelihood that you're going to fall off your bike once in a while. Here are my crashes since I went carfree four years ago:

1. Got grazed by a car that hit me while it was passing a trash truck that had stopped to let me through an intersection. I was only slightly scratched, and my bike was largely undamaged, but the BMW that hit me had a huge scratch on the side. :D

2. Railroad tracks. The person who was riding with me warned me about them about 20 seconds before I ate pavement, rather forcefully, too, so the main damage was to my self-esteem (and handlebars).

3. A car backed into me in a grocery store parking lot, knocking me down. I was unharmed, no damage to car or bike, but I yelled at the driver anyway, because it was hot and humid that day, and I'd had a near miss only a few minutes earlier. (Driver awareness of bikes at Whole Foods is much less than you'd think. Must be all the BMWs. I have bad luck with those cars.)

4. The most recent one (six months ago) was when a driver purposely swerved in front of me and slammed on his brakes, sending me over his hood. After I hit the ground, he rolled down his window and said, "Use the ****** sidewalk, ******* bike ***," and sped off. (Note: I do not wear Lycra.) Of course, I was pretty irritated by this, got back on my bike, and chased him. Miraculously, he got backed up at a four way stop, and I managed to catch up to him. Even though I'm a normally peaceful, even timid person, I pounded on his windows, doors and hood, and invited him to step out of his car so I could beat him to death with my u-lock. I was so enraged it never even occurred to me to look at his license plate. He just laughed at me and drove away. I was actually completely unharmed (I was shaking a bit afterward, though), and my bike, a hybrid then, just had a slightly bent fork and a few broken spokes. I love steel. I also had to replace my helmet, which had a very small crack in it. This was an odd one, because people in Seattle are usually pretty tolerant of bicycles. I thought about calling the police, but didn't, because I'd neglected to get a license plate number.

Of four crashes, two were pretty much my fault, one was the fault of an inattentive driver, and one was basically an unprovoked assault. None resulted in serious injury to myself or very much damage to my bike.

Let's hear about your crashes, if any, and your thoughts about the statistical ramifications of being car-free.

wow, where did #4 happen? sounds crazy.

i haven't been hit by a car yet, but i do mostly riding on country roads. i have ran into one (ok, two) pedestrians throughout my cycling career.. but only one of them was my fault, i swear.

last time I "crashed" I was like 12. Not including the 1 time I was new to clipless pedals & fell over.....

Not that there haven't been more than a few close calls.........

I go down about once every two years. Lately:

1 - Hit a parking lot pothole on an 18 inch folder, distracted while trying to zip through a closing gate. Bike went down, I went flying and somehow managed to land on my feet, still holding onto the handlebars.

2 - Hit a speed bump on the same 18 inch folder. The speed bump was perfectly lined up with the edge of a tree shadow. Even brightly painted it was nearly invisible. Also paying too much attention to a lady ped walking by. Over the handlebars, Superman style, landed on a rib, very sore for a couple of weeks. Gave up on small wheeled bikes as a result because of the pothole/speed bump problem.

3 - Twig from a roadside weed catches my shoelace just right, unties it, shoelace wraps around the crank, I coast to a stop in a patch of mud, wobble side to side in slow motion because I can't figure out how to dismount, bike slips and flies out from under me, taking my right foot with it and down I go into the mud. Two extremely amused pedestrians watching, of course.

I had a crash in August '07 - Riding along a road where there was a long line of cars backed up, waiting to make a left turn - There was a minor side street with a car wanting to turn right into the line of backed up cars. I was filtering forward on the right - I was not making the left turn that all the motor traffic was trying to make. As I approached the intersection I could see that one of the drivers to my left had stopped to open a gap to allow the car in the intersection to make her right turn into traffic, but the gap was not yet big enough for her to make her turn. I approach the intersection, very nervous about this, and the car waiting to turn right waves me across, so I proceed, slowly, to cross the intersection, at which point a car coming from the opposite direction makes a left turn through the gap in traffic - I turned to my left so that we grazed one another, my handlebar leaving a long scratch on the side of the vehicle, but I did not go down - left turning vehicle driver looked at me across her shoulder, then hit the gas and sped away.

2 - Hit a speed bump on the same 18 inch folder. The speed bump was perfectly lined up with the edge of a tree shadow. Even brightly painted it was nearly invisible. Also paying too much attention to a lady ped walking by. Over the handlebars, Superman style, landed on a rib, very sore for a couple of weeks.
Yeah, but she MUST have been impressed.

Yeah, but she MUST have been impressed.
Not even! Three necessary conditions for cartoon style bike crashes:

1 - A hazard
2 - A distraction
3 - One or more amused bystanders

I had my first crash in at least seven years yesterday. Only casualty was a pair of sandals. I cannot remember the last time I fell off a bicycle before then.

I crashed a few weeks ago; my daughter and I were riding along, side by side on a quiet street. She was on the left. Going through an intersection, she decided to turn right without consulting me. She just clipped me, I went down, she didn't. No damage to self or bike. Lesson learned (by her) and relearned (by me): when riding side by side, communicate before turning!

Last time before that was maybe five years ago; I unsuccessfully swerved around a short but thick stick I saw briefly in the beam of my headlight. It got stuck in the front spokes, down I went. Damage: tore the knee of a new pair of chinos. Lesson learned: get better lights!

Last time before that, front wheel slipped out from under me while turning on some mud on a turn on the Lake Shore Drive bike path in Chicago, that'd be about 1983. A lesson learned.

Last time before that, I was hit by a dog chasing a rabbit across a rural road near Munich, Germany, in the middle of the night, ca 1980. Crash threw my wrist out of whack for weeks. Lesson learned: expect the unexpected?

Not long before that, I was riding along no hands when a little old lady rode an ancient cast iron bicycle out of a driveway, and by the time I had my hands out of my pockets and on the brakes, she was right in front of me. Miraculously neither she nor I was hurt. Lesson learned: don't ride like an *****%@)&!

Last time before that, about 1975, my sister and I were riding on the sidewalk past the library on Connecticut Ave in Chevy Chase (DC). Side by side, she on the left on her green Schwinn Breeze, I on the right on my yellow Schwinn Speedster. I thought we were going to the library; she thought we were going to the Safeway. I turned. She did not. We both crashed. Lesson learned: when riding side by side, communicate before turning! Well, in retrospect, I'm not sure I really learned it.

That's all I can remember.

Years ago when I was doing mountain biking, I was new at it...looked down a hill and attempted to ride down it...rough and such, wiped out, but I pulled my arms to my chest, otherwise I might have broken an arm.

The last one I can think of was coming home from a 20 mile ride on my mountain bike (hybrid was needing work done) and just as I was turning into my driveway (fast) my front tire slipped on wet tire or something on the driveway and down I went. Nothing hurt but my pride.

Can't think of any others - hope I'm not setting myself up for something for the ride home from work...

Crashes in the past five years:
1. Winter time - changed lanes to the center (streetcar track) lane because of huge banks of plowed snow in the curb lane. In my rearview mirror a driver is coming up behind me way too fast and showing no signs of going around. He makes me nervous so I cut back across the tracks (slippery) towards the curb lane (slippery looking patches all around) before I want to. Spill on the slippery stuff but not badly. Idiot driver does appear to stop up ahead but as soon as he sees me get off the ground he's gone.
2. Mystery slippery streetcar tracks - they looked dry but somehow in changing lanes to go around construction equipment I spill and roadrash up my knee.
3. Stuck cleat - riding over a wooden railway bridge, there's a train coming past at the bottom and I'm trying to unclip to stop but the cleat is stuck and end up going over (wood is much nicer to fall on than asphalt)
4. Winter time - the worst day of winter, icy base lots of snow on top and coldest day to boot, I bundle up really well for the cold, but don't make it very far before wiping out on the slippery roads. The bundling up however protects me from any real hurt.

Stories and personal experiences like #4 in the OP, are the reason i always bike with a phone quickly accessible now to call 911. Scary stuff.

Had an embarassing tumble recently, right as I got started coming from the beach on the MUP my front tire goes off the edge of the sidewalk and i go over the handlebars =p Only my pride was injured.

It seems like I find new and interesting ways to crash, and they do seem to be about two years apart. My worst one was a bit of stupidity about three years ago, flying down a hill in unfamiliar territory and slammed into the back of a pickup truck as it was stopped at a stop sign at the bottom of a steep hill :-(

My most recent one was a BIG fifth wheel pickup buzzed me at highway speed on wet chip seal and literally blew me down. In retrospect I blame myself for this one as well; if I'd taken the lane instead of hugging the edge, he would have given me some room. As it was he passed me with inches to spare. Random gust of wind, and there I went.

Falls... zero since I got the Breezer. Before that, about 2-3 this year, and another 5ish? last year. Pretty much all of them were my hip/knee/ankle telling me that diamond frames don't work. Prior to that, I'd had one or two falls dealing with drivers nearly running me off the road, and the normal quota of learning to ride falls.

Crashes, one. A wrong way biker (as in wrong way down a busy 3 lane one way street) ran into me as I was crossing. Neither of us fell, mostly thanks to my trackstand ability. I've never had a crash with a car.

I haven't had a crash in 3 years of riding, but I have fallen twice. Around here mud is the enemy. It appears when you least expect it and the results are never good.

Yet, I nearly had a head-on with another bicycle on my way home this afternoon. Guy was passing another bike on a sharp curve on a bike trail... at a high rate of speed. 8 lives left.

3 for me

1. car pulled in to the middle of a sidewalk while leaving a parking lot. The edge of the building it against the sidewalk, so seeing around the corner to the lot is impossible until you pass the building. I saw him last minute, he was not yet in front of me. WE MADE EYE CONTACT and he still pulled out in front of me. I went sailing over his hood and landed in oncoming traffic. I scurried out of the road before a car whizzed by me. My bike was done for. I made the old fogie take me to an ATM and he took out $120 bucks and gave it to me. (It was a crappy wal-mart bike).

2. same street, opposite side of it, same direction. I was going down a slight incline. I went on the opposite side of the street because of occurence #1. I had a walk sign to go across the intersection at the bottom of the hill. I went through, and a car beside me in traffic turned right and turned in front of me. Screech! couldn't stop fast enough, clipped their rear bumper. Went sailing over their trunk. Here I am in traffic again. How familiar. Got out of the lane before a car whizzed by. My bike was fine this time, but I should have taken their number because Im pretty sure my heel still has a hairline fracture 2 years later. If I stand on my left foot for longer than a minute it gets unbearable.

3. during RagBrai in town, there are more bikes out than there are cars. I bet motorists just HATE this day of the summer. Bikes everywhere. They preach humility and patience to the cyclists but I lost my temper at one point. I was on a road in the far right lane riding against the curb to avoid traffic. Someone from an intersection ahead turned left across oncoming traffic to turn in to my lane. What does he do? Turns to the OUTSIDE lane. Illegal in itself, let alone with you almost kill someone in the process. I didn't crash, but I had to brace my hand against his rear tail light to push myself away from him. I could tell he saw me because we made eye contact. So I pedaled harder and kept up with him ~35mph down a slightly inclined curving road. Met him at the intersection and left a big thank you dent in his drivers door. It looked like he pissed himself when I punched his car. I hope he did because I almost did myself when he almost killed me.

-Thomas

Only one major crash. There was a light drizzle just enough to make things slick. I came up on train tracks that appeared to be perpendicular to the road, but it was an illusion. Both the road and the tracks were curving to the right. It was my final sprint home too, so I figured I'd jump the tracks. Well I must have fludged the jump as I hit the ground, shattering my helmet. I was bloodied, but unbroken. Looking at the tracks afterwards, they wern't even close to perpendicular. Lesson learned.

Second crash was much more comical. I was pulling into a gas station in the middle of a ride. Of course, I was grabbing my waterbottle while turning into what ended up being a deep patch of gravel. Went down at 1mph. Lesson learned: don't grab your waterbottle when turning.

I can think of only 2 falls on the road (about 2,000 on my mountain bike). One was limping along carrying a car bike rack for about 200 yards. Something wobbled I crashed. No bike damage, beat up elbow.
Slow motion fall when my chain jammed going slow uphill. A few scratches on me and the bike.

No car crashes for me. However, someone my S.O. works with has had 3 crashes with cars (most bumps due to inattentive drivers and good bike handling) and has stopped biking to work as a result. I bike on the same roads, my gut tells me he is doing something wrong...

The first couple years I was riding I fell a lot. I broke ribs at least twice. (I think my ribs are as brittle as candy canes--I've broken them more times than I can count.) and once I broke my wrist, had the most awesome road rash, and was hospitalized for shock. I was off work 5 months for that one.

I only crashed into a car once. He stopped short deliberately, but it was still my fault as I was angry and following him too close. I had one other very close call with a car--also my fault, but he was very nice about it.

I don't crash any more (unless I just jinxed myself.) The last one was when my stepson Jerry slid out on wet leaves (after I warned him) and I had to crash to avoid rolling over him.

My best crash was when I wiped out on road salt and did a flying somersault on the pavement and stuck the dismount. The bystanders actually cheered and I took a bow. They didn't know I broke another damn rib! :D

I crash about once a year. My crashes usually have something to do with weather conditions, other cyclists, or myself (i.e. unclipping incidents).

I must not be riding hard enough, I haven't had a crash in years...last one was weather related, riding in fresh deep snow hit something under the snow and went down, but we had 9" of fresh powder. The one before that was a near miss caused by a right hook motorist, but my tank of a bike did more damage to their car than it did to me.

Aaron:)

Twice in seven years of commuting:

1. Dry but icy morning. Took a turn on a quiet residential street I've used hundreds of times and wheels slid right down to horizontal. Luckily sliding on the ice prevented any scratches or damage to me or my bike. Cab driver approaching the intersecting saw me do the "I'm ok - don't worry I'm fine" thing.

2. Turn a sidewalk turn at less than 5 mph after leaving my building at work. Front wheel was really flat but didn't realize it. Fell, skinned up my knee and leg - all from an incredibly slow turn.

I crash every time I hit the trails on my mountain bike. If I don't crash, I didn't try hard enough.

As the years go by, I seem to be getting better at this bicycling thing. So far, I've only crashed my bike twice in the last sixteen years.

1) Two years ago hit a parking space curb with a pedal while transporting, awkwardly, a HEAVY newly built steel wheel with an AG hub. I was only going walking pace, but I was so off balance I lost it.

2) 6 Months ago carrying a 10-speed frame I just bought, riding along a train platform, lost balance after passing a smiling Irish girl and drove right off down onto the train tracks.

3) Last Sunday, slowly pedaling down the Embarcadero, dodging lamp posts and parking meters along the edge of the sidewalk, I missed an uneven expansion joint and it knocked the bike right out from under me. I was in toe clips, going too slow to have time to get out of them.

I commute daily in rush hour traffic in a mid-sized town. I ride on busy streets almost every where I go. Never gone down on the street.

Fell due to feet being strapped into pedals.

After making homemade fenders out of old plastic signs, I deliberately went out looking for wet tarmac to test them. Rounding a corner, I tasted asphalt for the first time. It was yucky.

Fell while clipped in trying to trackstand before having to actually learn to trackstand. This happend at 3:05, in front to the school next to a school bus full of students. There was laughter. From children.



Fell while trackstanding at a park.

Fell while trackstanding in a parkng spot.

Fell while trackstanding at a busy intersection.

Fell while trackstanding on a MUP.

BTW, one of the reasons I like fixed gear is that you can trackstand.

Like skiing, most of my falls are at speeds of 1-2 mph.

Fell while clipped in trying to trackstand before having to actually learn to trackstand. This happend at 3:05, in front to the school next to a school bus full of students. There was laughter. From children.



Fell while trackstanding at a park.

Fell while trackstanding in a parkng spot.

Fell while trackstanding at a busy intersection.

Fell while trackstanding on a MUP.

BTW, one of the reasons I like fixed gear is that you can trackstand.

Apparently not very well though lol. :)
-Thomas

Knock on wood, but I haven't had a crash for years. I ride all winter but I use studs on the ice, and thus far I haven't taken a spill. The tires are actually more secure than walking on the ice.

I'm a new rider and not car free. But, I couldn't pass on posting when I saw this thread.

Answer is.....


According to the number of scrapes and bruises I have in the two months that I've been riding, I crash a lot.

The only one of any possible serious consequence happened when I was in a group ride on Labor Day weekend and a rider I was passing didn't here me say "On Your Left" and he decided to change his line, clipped my wheel and down I went. Did I mention that he was wearing "Earbuds" and listening to his radio/mp3/whatever....

I've fallen once because of a Charley Horse and, on this past Saturday, as a result of lack of experience with my clipless pedals.

I'm pretty sure that I haven't had my last fall.....:o

Luckily sliding on the ice prevented any scratches or damage to me or my bike.


Yep--I' rather slide on ice than slide on the rock salt they use to melt the ice.