Originally Posted by
Doug64
One thing that will prevent many arm and collar bone injuries is not to use your arms to break your fall. It is best to keep your hands on the bars and roll onto you shoulder as you come in contact with the ground. Using the body to decelerate the speed, and lessen the impact of a fall is a basic principle used in Judo.
Watch the way pro cyclists react in crashes especially in slow motion replays. Most often the ones that come out of the crash with their collar bone in one piece, keep their arms tucked to their sides and hands on the bars.
+1, It's counter intuitive since most people think in terms of protecting themselves by using their hands, but the "safest" way to crash is to ride the bike all the way to the ground. The exception to that is an over the bars crash, but the forces of nature will be in charge there.
Otherwise, most spills are to the side and if you "ride" the bike to the ground, you'll take the brunt of the impact on your shoulder, and to a lesser extent on your ribs, hip, and thighs. If you have normal bone strength and muscular padding, odds are you'll walk away and be complaining about road rash for a few days.