vol

Another proof that step through frame is safer.

TGT1

She needed it to whack the driver with!

Sullalto

Yeah, I'd really like to build up a soma buena vista mixte frame as a commuter/everyday bike. I hate having to swing my leg over a basket full of groceries on the back, or something bungeed on top of my trunk rack. Though the maximum tire width of 28m(with fenders, 33mm otherwise) is a bit odd.

Reynolds 

When I'm in that situation, I usually swing my right leg over my (horizontal) top tube - but at 63, it's getting a bit harder each year!

CliffordK

She isn't saved by the step through frame.

My interpretation is:

• Immediately before the accident she has her left foot down on the pavement, and slightly back from center. This provides a pivot point for her. Her right foot may still be on the pedal.
• The front wheel of the bike is thrown up in the air
• She literally falls off the back of the bike as the bike is knocked out from under her.

So, what saved her? Probably high heals and a low seat position (and practice with walking on high heals?)
She does let go of the handlebars at a critical moment, and may push off of the car.
All of her cargo was also in the front basket (nothing to get snagged on behind the seat).



The car certainly has swerved on the road. Had she impacted the car a foot further forward, I think she would have gone down. Perhaps also a foot back.

With her cat-like reflexes, the first thing she goes after following the accident is her purse, and then her bike, never looking at the traffic behind her.

The bike is carried off the road with the rear wheel in the air, so it has taken a beating (it also bounced off of the yellow car before coming to rest).

bigbenaugust 

Sir, do you work for the NTSB?

vol

So do you think it would have made no difference if she had a horizontal bar, everything else equal?

CliffordK

I think she came off the back of the bike. A horizontal bar frame would not have made any difference.

The way I interpret the video, her left foot is on the ground, and does not go over the frame as the bicycle is spun and knocked out from under her. In fact, if you look at the video clips I posted, the left foot stays at about the same place with respect to the crosswalk stripes from before the car hits till after the bike is knocked away from her.

It is hard to see what happened with her right foot, but my interpretation is that she went off the back of the seat, and thus the right foot would have cleared the rear tire, not the top tube. So a straight tube would have made no difference, but she would have benefited with balance from an upright posture, rather than being down "on the drops".

Perhaps a folding bike with 16" or 20" tires would also be easier to clear in this situation.

acidfast7

not a bike, but kind of like this guy checking the cargo in the taxi:


taxi (good engineering VW!):

https://i.imgur.com/HzLa4TK.jpg

all people OK:

https://i.imgur.com/uIMNvCG.jpg

RidingMatthew

that made me laugh thanks

definate argument against being clipped in.

it barely looked like the car was messed up.

I watched without listening to the audio did the guy get out of the car ask her if she was okay? he did not seem to even look at her.

El Cid

I think this falls into "extreme unlikelihood" territory. I won't bother taking precautions against something that will almost certainly never happen.

FBinNY 

+1,

If you figure the time interval between being missed entirely, and being T-boned, you'll see that the window for being hit in a way that the bike is spun out from under you is extremely narrow.

cobrabyte

She's kind of cute. 'Sup girl, sorry I hit your bike. Need a ride somewhere?'

takenreasy

I thought the thread was going to be about something else. You know, she got lucky last night or something like that.

CliffordK

I can get out of the clips (both feet) mighty quickly. Perhaps the main difference is that I step forward to reach the ground, so the seat would have snagged me from behind.

If she had been clipped in and travelling at 20 mph, she would have been through the intersection and across town before the guy in the car came racing down the street.

I think it is a very bad street design. It appears as if there are two one-way streets separated by a median strip, and then this extra lane (or two, the yellow car seems to be across the yellow line).

RidingMatthew

Just to clarify... I was just saying that she probably was riding platform pedals and not clipped in. I was not starting an argument about clipping in vs not clipping in.

i do agree it is a pretty poorly designed road.

rhm

The way I interpret the video, she saw the car at the last possible moment and hit the brakes. You have to watch it several times to see it all, but (1) she turns her head to the right; clearly she sees the car at the last moment. (2) she stretches her left foot toes down in anticipation of coming off the bike (3) her torso tilts forward and keeps moving forward but (4) the bike has stopped.

I agree her speedy dismount was only possible because of the step-through frame, platform pedals, and also her rather extremely upright posture on the bike.

vol

It also seems that when the driver saw the impending accident he/she turned the car slightly to the right to desperately avoid hitting her, and probably slowed down in the process. If the car drove through with original speed and direction as if the driver was blind, then the result may be more serious.