True, but there isn't any reason to accuse him of either until the speed factor is known. Had he been hauling, I dare say that the father of this girl would have been far less inclined to react friendly towards him.

From the price quoted, I'd say that we're talking about a carbon fork here. I'm not in the mood for stirring up a carbon VS aluminum or steel debate, but I've seen CF forks snap from relatively minor potholes - no reason why the front wheel of another bike head on shouldn't have the potential to crack the fork. Remember, head on collisions = speed of both vehicles combined - had both individuals been going 10mph, the collision would have been equal to flying into a stationary wall at 20mph.

And for that matter, this much-posted photo of a squirrel in the spokes (IIRC, this isn't even a carbon fork either) should be enough to prove that a fork can snap from something that should not cause it to snap (no reason why the front end shouldn't have simply locked up with a resulting endo).

http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-014/squirrel.jpg

-Kurt