Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
My point is that I and everyone I know who has crashed, and everyone on this thread who's crashed, got the help they needed with loved ones notified appropriately and etc. These are well-marketed devices looking for a problem and hoping there are enough frightened people out there to make the development costs worthwhile. I'm trying to recall a time when I was afraid.
Well of course everyone in this thread got the help they needed after their crash.
Those that didn't get help they needed won't be around to post. Yes marketing does use our fears to it's advantage, but these devices are now pretty low cost IMO. Many of the Garmin Edge devices have crash detection as a feature now. ANGi comes included with many Specialized/S-Works helmets and if you want just ANGi to put on your own helmet that cost is minimal now too. Just one time $50.
There are risks to everything. I don't see how these gadgets mitigate any risk. Climbing ropes are good. They catch you if you fall. Helmets are good, they can save your head if you fall. I don't see how these gadgets protect you. All they do is hassle you and force you into a kind of device-dependence mindset that I don't care for. Garmin does not have "crash protection." Please. They have " excessive G-force notification" after the fact, like after your bike falls over after you leaned it against a wall and went in for coffee.
I don't view them as the definitive thing that going to save anyone. It's just another layer of protection like an extra layer of clothing. As for the false alerts, I too was worried about those. I had one Garmin alert when I accelerated across a road real fast and had to come to a very quick stop on the other side. A push of the button canceled it. I've had no false alerts with the ANGi. I think since I wasn't an early adopter, I was spared some of the false alerts from things the users of bleeding edge of tech experienced.
A fellow rider had a bad accident last summer - got hit by a van during a descent. The driver probably had no idea that bikes could go that fast. He got medical help appropriately, wife notified, etc. His response was that he sold all his single bikes. Now he's only going to ride tandem with his wife on group rides. Tandems are in fact much safer than singles because drivers treat them more like vehicles and one is also much safer in a group of expert riders for much the same reason. He did not run out and buy the latest gadget to do whatever. There's a wonderful poem about this sort of thing, but my geezer brain just won't bring it up.
All that depends on you being found... and in a timely manner. When I had my bad crash I was lucky to have crashed on a portion of the 11 mile trail that has traffic. If I'd been on the other end where generally only cyclist ever go to, then that time of the day it might have easily been more than 30 minutes before anyone found me. Or more if I'd rolled off in high grass down the embankments.
But there is this thing that spouse's have between each other... My wife and I have long shared our location with each other via Google Maps and our phones. She tells me that out of the blue she decided she needed to check on me. And apparently that was the moment after I crashed. She noticed my position wasn't changing and it was a location I'd have no reason to be stopped. She was about to call 911 when the people that found me called her with my phone and said they had an ambulance on the way and explained what had occurred.
So maybe you are right, we don't need these things. We all just need a spouse
My wife and I have RoadID dog tags around our necks with all the information an EMT or admitting nurse would want to see. We'll let the authorities take it from there. Like I said above, for when there's a serious possibility of not coming back, we carry a PLB. Although I have to admit that's probably overkill, too. I only know of two people who vanished in my state and were not saved from their own stupidity or carelessness, whatever it was. Out of probably hundreds of thousands, so a vanishingly small risk. Still, it's only 4 oz. and never bothers us. I have a much-admired backcountry skier friend who carries one, so we got one, too. And we did see a helicopter come in response once, though it wasn't for anyone we knew. That was after we'd already started carrying it, but we felt a bit better about the 4 oz. afterwards.
This past Monday, we were out riding and had a mechanical in front of a fire station. An EMT or firefighter came out and talked with us. We asked her about the utility of RoadIDs. She said, "Oh, they're great. We always find one if the person has one as soon as we cut their clothes off."
.I've considered RoadID but I don't have anything health wise that anyone needs to know in order to provide medical assistance to me. It would only be reassuring to them maybe as these crash detection devices are to some of us. I have a PLB too, not much need for one here as I don't sail much any more so being out of cell service is rare. You still have to be cognizant enough to push the button too. I doubt I was. The things they said I was doing after being found were just weird. Apparently I wasn't unconscious. I was actually up and moving around. But not successfully doing anything.
Just using you for making counterpoints. I'm okay with you doing your own thing. I don't think such stuff is a must have for everyone. It's just a choice like color of bicycle.