Caretaker

Cornering riders need space to drift wide, placing straw bales at the foot of metal barriers limits the amount of room riders have. By eliminating one problem you would more than likely create a new one and possibly cause more crashes and injuries.

This year's Tour hasn't so far been unusual in terms of injuries, it's normal in the first week to have several riders crash out. What's unacceptable are accidents where team/organisation cars or motorcycles are involved or ones caused by spectator stupidity.

one4smoke

How much space does a straw bale take up standing on it's side? Two feet maybe? So, just move the barriers back 2' from where they would be currently.

Now THAT, I wholeheartedly agree with you!

Marcus_Ti

Bale size depends on who is baling what....typically 18"x18"x48" (ish) in the USA. There are lots of baling machines out there, and there's no standard. You can also end up with wire-tied bales, which you absolutely do not want running against your arm at 30MPH.

In this particular crash, the barriers were already up against the curb of the road. There really was no further place for them to go. The only thing worse than slamming knee-first into metal-that-might-shift-under-load at 30MPH, is slamming into concrete at 30MPH.