Have You Been Killed?

[Gojohnnygo.]

You are not in heaven. But you are close.

Yes, The Adirondacks are very close to being in heaven.

Hope, Your having a great time back country skiing!


I finally got Gothics. ;)

[John E]

For those of us who knew or know of cyclists killed in traffic accidents, this thread is neither amusing nor helpful. It is much more useful to learn what we can from these tragic incidents and to take appropriate action. Cece Krone and Ken Kifer were killed by drunk drivers; how many of you support MADD or other organizations dedicated to reducing the rate of drunk driving?

[closetbiker]

For those of us who knew or know of cyclists killed in traffic accidents, this thread is neither amusing nor helpful.

Your right, of course, John.

It's easy to be caught up in humour when you're thinking of something else but for those of us who have truely come close to someones death, it's no laughing matter.

No disrespect intended.

[powers2b]

Yea, I think death is least funny when it happens to children.
(Southpark)

[billh]

Ouch.

[JohnBrooking]

That was sort of the point. I wanted to establish the fact that cycling is not inherently deadly. Looks like i failed.
All kidding aside, no matter how many people weigh in, by definition they're all alive (and some are smart-*****ses besides), so without being able to compare it to the number who would have weighed in but cannot because they are no longer with us, it's kind of a pointless exercise. But I do see your intent (although not until you pointed it out).

Idea for another question to establish your point: How many years have people been riding seriously? The more people have been riding for a longer time, the better the point will be proved. On the other hand, if the number of years ridden stays low over a long period of time, that may be bad news! :eek:

[Hhowdy]

Howdy,
t's kind of a pointless exercise
You mean this isn't a serious thread, and all of this time I thought they really were dead....

M.R.

[andygates]

Sense of humour might be.

Look, we know it's a war out there and people get hurt and killed. Sometimes we need a bit of gallows humour to bring the smile back.

[Hhowdy]

Howdy,
Agreed!

M.R.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

Idea for another question to establish your point: How many years have people been riding seriously?

Such a vague question will raise even a bigger stink. You can count on know-it-all proseltyziers to declare that ONLY they are competent enough to define and/or practice SERIOUS CYLING. I predict the dogmatic answers will be followed by critiques of cycling techniques, experiences or motives of all who don't obey the SERIOUS CYCLISTS' commandments or conform to the approved profile for SERIOUS CYCLISTS.

Define "serious" cycling before you ask such a question if interested in a sensible answer.

[closetbiker]

maybe a "serious" cyclist could be a cyclist who simply follows the rules of the road and looks out for other road users who don't?

[Hhowdy]

Howdy,
Serious == Someone that gets on, rides, gets off, and realizes this isn't as easy at it looks.

M.R.

[Mars]

Well, I have been riding for 93 years and didn't crack a smile once. I think that I am, therefore, the most serious cyclist here. Or on the other side as well.

[juciluci]

i died Sept.12th/04
by a dr who is a cyclist AND drives a car...
does that count?




by the way... the white light stuff is a hoax, there is this ....yellow brick road.... :love:

[Hhowdy]

ass

[KrisPistofferson]

I was trampled by one of Hannibal's elephants while riding Leonardo Da Vinci's prototype bicycle. I have through the ages, figured out that I can kill other dead cyclists by removing their head, so watch your back. There can be only one.

[79th Frame]

I should not have started into this thread! My soap box comes out and I get carried away. I know you started it on a positive note as a sort of joke but the risks of riding a bicycle are not a joking matter.

I have had three friends killed on bikes and three severely injured. That is over about 25 years of bicycling. Two of these were murdered, one by a driver who picked him off at about 6:30 AM on a back road and then drove away, one by an insane driver who plowed into a bunch of riders on TOSRV because he got frustrated about passing riders. The judge let him off with a wrist slap. The third was a quick reveal -- you know, the ones where the car at the head of a line comes upon you at full tilt and waits until the last minute to whip around you so the guy behind has no place to go and no way to stop. That's manslaughter, not murder, the judge said.

Among the injuries was a mother out on a quiet back road with her two kids aged 5 and 8. The idiot in a commercial van wouldn't move left on an empty, straight, flat two-lane road and tagged her with his monster truck mirror, crushing her hip, ruining a few internal organs, and boosting her into the ditch. He drove away but then figured the kids might finger him so he backed up about 2/10 and leaned out to ask the woman covered in blood attended by two hysterical kids, "Are ya hurt, lady?"

The other two were self-inflicted. One blew a tire on a downhill and hit the ditch -- 50 feet down. One was riding to catch up and ended up on his head. He doesn't remember a thing so I have no idea what happened. People who saw it say he just launched over the handlebars. Pothole? Bike-trap crack in the pavement? Who knows? At the lunch stop we were told he was in the hospital.

That's pretty good for 25 years considering the number of people I have ridden with over those years but I mourn each of those people who died. All of them died because of driver's visciousness and stupidity.

In return, I have laid my pump into windshields and kicked doors, hoods, and trunk lids. I have straight-armed those wonderful folding mirrors hard enough to smash them and leave them hanging by their cables. That sometimes wakes a driver up from whatever they were doing instead of watching the road. A trick from motorcycling I may decide to employ is the ballbearing bounce. Of course, the motorcycle is very fast and the bicycle isn't. Best to have witnesses before pulling that one, but I'd sure like to take out the rear window of a few vehicles whose drivers think they can force me off the road.

I take my lane. ALL of it! I determine when it's safe for a driver to pass, not the driver! If he starts around me and I might get crowded when an on-coming vehicle scares him, I am going to take the left lane and put him back in line for my safety and his. He can take his f-finger, ram it up his nose, and scratch his pea-sized-brain for all that.

Some day I will be cubed by a Mack truck grill and buried as 2-day-old hamburger but I will not go quietly!

[powers2b]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=DarkRed][B][FONT=Arial]I should not have started into this thread!

Agreed, but it was fun while it lasted.
Enjoy

[Portis]

I should not have started into this thread! My soap box comes out and I get carried away. I know you started it on a positive note as a sort of joke but the risks of riding a bicycle are not a joking matter. .................................................................................................... ...............................................
Some day I will be cubed by a Mack truck grill and buried as 2-day-old hamburger but I will not go quietly!

I just asked whether or not you have been killed. After painfully reading through your post I can only conclude three things. 1. You have a hard time articulating your point. 2. You are angry. 3. You are alive.

Again, i only asked for #3. The ironic thing is that this thread is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A JOKE. Everyone simply treated it as such and therefore it basically became one. My intention was to provide a thread that counteracted the countless threads like yours that scare people to death and make them view cycling as unsafe.

Hell, maybe it is unsafe. If i had three friends killed I would probably have all of my bikes for sale on Ebay pretty quickly. Maybe I was misinformed and cycling is a very dangerous activity? If I hadn't ridden much and stumbled on to your post I wouldn't even consider cycling as an activity for me. THen again, if i was able to reason, i might also start wondering if knowing 3 people that were killed while riding a bicycle in 25 years is enough to draw that conclusion.

I just started trying to count all of the people that I know who have been killed IN cars, not by them. Guess what? I am still counting.

[closetbiker]

I just started trying to count all of the people that I know who have been killed IN cars, not by them. Guess what? I am still counting.


I took the thread the same way. Some of the posts have been entertaining though.

In BC, commuting cyclists alone (not all cyclists, like recreational riders, racers training, or kids making their way around the neighburhood) make up 2% of traffic but only are injured at 0.9% of all traffic injuries.

There are about 42,000 collisions ayear on the roads in BC and drivers are injured at 50%, passengers 25%, motorcycle drivers 8%, pedestrians 13% of all traffic injuries.

But by far the biggest killer is something that cycling prevents. Heart disease. About 36% of all deaths in Canada, not just accidents, are attributal to heart disease.

Ride a bike and live.

[KrisPistofferson]

There's danger in cycling, but there's danger in not getting any physical activity, too. To quote Superchicken; " You knew the job was dangerous when you took it."
It's the danger that makes it exciting, too. When I used to MTB, going fast downhill and doing drops was what made it exciting, now that I stick to road, those big steel bison make it an adventure sometimes.

[KrisPistofferson]

After painfully reading through your post I can only conclude three things. 1. You have a hard time articulating your point. 2. You are angry. 3. You are alive.

:D

[PaperBoy]

Hell, maybe it is unsafe. If i had three friends killed I would probably have all of my bikes for sale on Ebay pretty quickly.

I have had three family members die of old age. Makes me want to throw away all of my vitamins. :rolleyes:

[JohnBrooking]

Well, I have been riding for 93 years and didn't crack a smile once. I think that I am, therefore, the most serious cyclist here. Or on the other side as well.
That's pretty good, you win! :)

To clarify, what I was thinking by "serious" was simply someone who rides a lot, say, is on the bike for at least an hour a day several days a week. As opposed to someone who gets out for a ride once a month or so, or just goes down to the corner to get the paper every day. Nothing to with their their demeanor while doing so.

But you're right, it's vague, so forget I brought it up. :p