squirtdad

this may be on interest.

Strava is being sued by the family of a man who died while trying to break a previous persons time on a route. The basic thinking is that by posting dangerous routes and encouraging other cyclist to beat the current best time, Strava is setting up a dangerous situation.

Trying to beat a Strava time is alleged part of the background in the case where a San Francisco cylist killed a pedestrian and has been chared with felony manslaughter.

https://www.mercurynews.com/business/...lls?source=rss

dimachka

That is just outrageous. People should take some damn responsibility for their own actions. Wtf

B. Carfree

Strava should sue the dead cyclist's parents for raising such an idiot. I'm sure it hurts their brand to have people like that using it.

bikepro

Well, if this doesn't work, they can also sue the bike shop where he bought his bike. I'm sure they encouraged him to ride in the first place. Was he a Bike Forum member? Did anyone on here encourage him?

ckaspar

I know I didn't, at least I hope not!

But seriously, when does personal responsibility ever play a part in someone killing himself?

gecho

I'm always trying to beat my own commute times. If I die do I have to sue myself?

hagen2456

Well... Legally, there can't be anything in it, but morally - I don't know. It's a bit like with the Alleycat races: You know you can't win without breaking just about any available traffic law. I'm not sure I like it. It breeds contempt for your fellow citizens or at least a recklessness that corresponds to it, I think.

kjmillig

My bike doesn't roll as fast as it's supposed to. I'm gonna sue.
McDonalds made me fat. I'm gonna....oh wait someone already did that one.
My pants fit too tightly. Levi is getting sued.
....
Some people, er lawyers, are just stupid that way.

CommuterRun

Incompetent bike handling skills. He was just a guy on a bike, not a cyclist. The judge should throw out the case as frivolous.

Don in Austin

A law suit is NOT tantamount to a settlement. Anybody can sue anybody for any stupid thing. It doesn't necessarily mean much.

Don in Austin

CommuteCommando

This is true. Also, when something like this happens, it is usually the case of some schyster hoping someone with deep pockets (Strava in this case) will settle quickly to minimize cost. Cases like this rarely succeed if they go to trial. Since these cases can be quite expensive, if the target indicates they will fight, Mr H. Lewis Dewey of the law firm Dewey, Cheatham and Howe, goes away. If they settle, they send a message that they are easy marks. This happened famously to the Los Angeles MTA, whose workers comp costs skyrocketed due to outrageous awards to bus drivers with sprained fingers and such.

chefisaac

this is bull crap. it is a choice that the cyclist makes. PERIOD.

Tycho Brahe 

There are already several threads on this issue. Here is a long one: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ava-over-death

Chris516

This thread reminded me of something that happened when I was a kid. I don't why, but when I was around 7/8yrs.-old(I think) my father had a pair of the folding bikes. There was a girl around my age at the time, maybe a little older living only a couple houses away from me. Anyway, I lived on a hill in Atlanta, similar to the one described in the news article and the hill dead-ended with a street that crossed it at the bottom of the hill. One day I was on one of our folding bikes and the girl kept begging me to let her ride one down the street/hill. I kept saying 'No', until I finally relented. Because of the girl having a broken thumb on one hand, that was splinted. When I finally relented and let her ride my bike down the hill/street, I immediately regretted it. Because of the splint she was not able to grasp the brake properly with hand. As a result, she went straight down the hill/street and side-impacted her dad's parked car. She ended up with a bloody nose. I don't recall any teeth being knocked out, but she was definitely a mess from the collision.

I kept wondering if her dad was going to sue me or something.

3alarmer 

Sue everyone...............................let God sort it out.

mcrowley

Tort reform will never happen as long as the trial lawyers association is giving money to the politicians. No one dies without a lawyer somewhere looking for an angle to sue somebody.

Notso_fastLane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeXQBHLIPcw

EsoxLucius

And politicians are lawyers.

Surfer34

Some guy posted his best time for a local hill climb and I couldnt beat it so I murdered him. I just found my defense strategy !!!

howeeee

Strava is in deep ****,,,Domino's was sued successfully several times for their promise to deliver by a deadline,,when their drivers killed a few people,,same thing as far I am concerned. ****ty doctors would love tort reform then when they cut someones artery during a routine surgery they wont have to pay for the misery the families will have to endure.

Tort reform is a great idea till you or your family are the ones blinded or mamed by a defective product.

There are juries that hear these cases,,and they reward what they see fit,,,seems like a good system to me.

rydabent

+1 to the person that says what the heck has happened to personal responsibility. Too many people want to blame the other person.

Berg417448

And tort reform will sound like a great idea if you or a member of your family has been the victim of a frivolous lawsuit that cost them $ that they didn't have to lose. Been there...done that. I'm not a fan of the system since its only purpose seems to be to create wealth for attorneys.

CommuteCommando

I've been lurking this for a while, and now that I have Strava, I'll chime in. I can see how some would be tempted to take risks to catch, or beat this or that KOM. It has me working to up my standings, which are poor but improving. Ultimately it is up to the knucklehead turning the cranks to insure that he doesn't take needless risks. If he or she does, they shouldn't blame Strava, or any others.

I did notice that now you can flag segments as "unsafe". I suspect this is a reaction to this lawsuit.

Fasteryoufool

Morally? Seriously? Who put a gun to his head and said "If you don't do this, I'll pull the trigger"?

Nobody. He made that MORAL choice on his own. He made that choice to put himself in physical danger all by his widdle wonesome. Welcome to the real world.

ckaspar

When are people going to be expected to take responsibility for their own actions? What is this world coming to anymore?