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How to avoid bicycle accidents?

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Old 08-03-16 | 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by FullGas
you've been down 20 times due to your own negligence...? assuming you weren't racing at the time, that's not a great testament to your riding / situational awareness skills.

there's something called 'avoidance learning' that you're not doing correctly.
That seems a little harsh. I'm sure I've had at least that many bike crashes with half of them occurring during my first year of riding and most of the rest over the following few years. Only one was serious (at age 10) and none had long-term consequences. Fortunately as my bones have hardened over the years my rate of crashing has gone way down. Only one of my crashes was the result of a mechanical failure (broken steerer tube). Several were the primary fault of others, but could probably still have been avoided.
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Old 08-03-16 | 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by KD5NRH
What if the entire road is flooded up to the tops of the curbs?

One situation where the bike was doing a heck of a lot better than the cars.
I'm glad it turned out OK for you. But think what would have happened if the water had blown a manhole cover out and you had hit the hole as it was submerged. Basic safety: Don't drive (or ride) if you can't see the road for the water.
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Old 08-03-16 | 07:55 PM
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Old 08-03-16 | 08:55 PM
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Originally Posted by KD5NRH
What if the entire road is flooded up to the tops of the curbs?
Knowing what has happened in the recent flooding here ... I wouldn't ride through that at all.
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Old 08-04-16 | 08:08 AM
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Originally Posted by BlazingPedals
I'm glad it turned out OK for you. But think what would have happened if the water had blown a manhole cover out and you had hit the hole as it was submerged.
What manhole cover? There aren't any on that street. Besides, the way our storm drains are around here, it would be near impossible to get enough water into them to blow the covers.
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Old 08-04-16 | 08:56 AM
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Originally Posted by corrado33
Don't ride.
Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Be lucky.
Pretty much the only two correct answers to completely avoid them. If you want to reduce your chances for an accident, common sense is a very good place to start.

Originally Posted by KD5NRH
What if the entire road is flooded up to the tops of the curbs?

One situation where the bike was doing a heck of a lot better than the cars.
Go around. I wouldn't go through water of unknown depth or flow with unknown submerged obstacles in a bike or a car.
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Old 08-04-16 | 08:59 AM
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Originally Posted by KD5NRH
What if the entire road is flooded up to the tops of the curbs?
Russian Roulette is also a fun sport. Great adrenaline rush.

Riding at night on strange roads with no lights is also exhilarating ... for a while.

I have seen cars hit a lot of obstacles. I have never seen a car fall over.

Some people have to actually fail while doing something which in retrospect was pretty stupid, before they accept that it was pretty stupid.
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Old 08-04-16 | 08:59 AM
  #33  
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Had my first accident after 47,000 safe miles.

Tried riding in a Construction Zone.

Bad idea.
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Old 08-04-16 | 09:06 AM
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Sadly ... don't use clipless pedals, and if you do, don't use two different sets, one of which is not quite as loose as the other.

At least it is a low-speed crash.
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Old 08-04-16 | 09:32 AM
  #35  
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If you ride a bike you cannot outright avoid the potential of accidents. You can limit the chances you are involved in one by small amounts or very great amounts depending on your willingness to do so.

For example, a person that rides 200 miles a week on busy roads can ride 100 miles a week on busy roads. This would reduce the chance by roughly half (time-dependent of course).

A person that rides 200 miles a week on busy roads could ride 200 miles a week on non-busy roads.

A person that rides on roads can ride on bike paths.

A person that rides on bike paths can just ride from one end of their back porch to the other, then turn around and go back, etc.

A person that just rides on their back porch can just ride on a trainer.

etc etc...

Still, there is risk for an accident while on the bicycle.

Abstinence is the only true way to avoid an accident while riding a bicycle.
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Old 08-04-16 | 09:34 AM
  #36  
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If you can't avoid accidents, I recommend the bear suit body armor.
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Old 08-04-16 | 09:56 AM
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Stay in bed. Getting out of bed is be the beginning of all sorts of bad things happening, not just a bicycle accident.

Getting out of bed in the morning is the BIG BANG of accident happenstance.
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Old 08-04-16 | 10:01 AM
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Originally Posted by KD5NRH
What if the entire road is flooded up to the tops of the curbs?

One situation where the bike was doing a heck of a lot better than the cars.

Please record your ride if you chose to do this.

And I think you're wrong. A truck would be the go to choice for driving through 6 inches of water. It would work MUCH better than a bike.


Or, if you prefer a truck not suited for driving through water, how about a relatively stock F150?

Have you ever STOOD in 6+ inches of moving water? It's hard enough to stand there, let alone ride a bike.

Last edited by corrado33; 08-04-16 at 10:07 AM.
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Old 08-04-16 | 10:23 AM
  #39  
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Listen to the little voice that is always there - usually right before you do something stupid.
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Old 08-04-16 | 10:34 AM
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Ride within your limits, gravity is a harsh mistress. My lessons started in 2nd grade. 2 older brothers and a VERY popular Evil Knievel. This led to them making jumps and me going first.
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Old 08-04-16 | 10:54 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by Moe Zhoost
Listen to the little voice that is always there - usually right before you do something stupid.
The one which says, "You are so going to regret this .... "
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Old 08-04-16 | 12:15 PM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by corrado33
...
Have you ever STOOD in 6+ inches of moving water? It's hard enough to stand there, let alone ride a bike.
I rode through 2.5 feet on a commute home one day, successfully if you can call it that. Lubing hubs and chain and bottom bracket cost me about an hour and a half, compared to saving maybe 10 minutes going around. Not the smartest choice, but I wanted to see if I could do it without getting bogged down.
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Old 08-04-16 | 01:27 PM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by corrado33
Have you ever STOOD in 6+ inches of moving water? It's hard enough to stand there, let alone ride a bike.
Moving water is a whole nother story:
  • Just 15 cm (6 inches) of standing water – sometimes less – can be enough to cause engine stalling. Your engine can suffer serious and expensive damage if it ingests water. And you'll be stranded.
  • In approximately 30 cm (1 foot) of water, a typical car can begin to float and, as traction is lost, so is steering control. If the water is moving, your vehicle could literally float away.
  • At 60 cm (two feet) of water, even larger vehicles such as pickup trucks and SUVs are in danger of floating away.
  • NEVER try driving through fast-moving water, such as an overflowing river, as your vehicle could be swept away.
  • As a rule of thumb, don't drive into water that's too deep to see the painted markings on the road.
Not that I like a cyclist's chances in moving water either.
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Old 08-04-16 | 04:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Maelochs
Sadly ... don't use clipless pedals, and if you do, don't use two different sets, one of which is not quite as loose as the other.
IMO, whoever came up with the idea for double-sided clipless pedals should be taken out and shot for not also designing them such that one screw adjusts both sides. Way too easy to accidentally get the same side just right twice and leave the other way too tight.
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Old 08-04-16 | 09:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Bruce su
Hi guys,how's everything going with you? Hope you had a nice weekend.
Did you just coming back from your holiday or on the way to it?

Today I would like to share some my opinions about the way to avoid bicycle accidents. Actually, accidents are inevitable, all we can do is to reduce the probabilities. A couple of reasons will cause the accidents, such as poor road conditions, bad bicycle quality or inappropriate riding ways etc.

In recent years, more and more people are interested in bicycle riding, because it is a good way to keep healthy and you can get a lot fun from it. At the same time, the bicycle market are developing at a high speed, so it is difficult for a begineer to make a decision in face of different choices. Some people pay more attention to the price, while others put the quality as their first consideration. As I know, some manufacturers will use inferior material to produce bicycles in order to save the cost, so their bicycles can be sold at a low price. Take carbon bicycle rims for example, bad quality carbon bicycle rims are easier to break in a high temperature compared to high quality carbon rims,following is the picture.
Attachment 533016


Another reason that will lead to a accident is the inappropriate riding ways, take the brake surface for example, experienced riders
will brake their bicycle from time to time when down hill in order to reduce the temperature in the brake surface, while new hands usually keep braking all the way when down hill which will be more dangerous.
Attachment 533017

Welcome to share more cycling experiences with me...
Really poor quality Chingrish posts are the #1 cause of unintended bike accidents.

Thanks for contributing to the accident rate.
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Old 08-11-16 | 05:50 AM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by Machka
If you're riding in the rain, don't ride through puddles ... you just don't know how deep they'll be!!
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
Just Yesterday, I posted about my concept of Riding Safety Aphorisms ("The Sayings of Chairman Jim"), little sayings that come to mind when I encounter a situation where unseen dangers may lurk, such as:
Make sure you can see the road surface if you ride over a puddle; a pothole or frozen ice may lurk at the bottom
Though it is still August, just yesterday I rode on a stretch of a nice bikepath that was strewn with fallen leaves, obscuring the surface. One of my earliest threads to BF was about a local cyclist who was killed by a pothole obscured by leaves, as he was training for a cross country tour. So remember to watch out for any road surface as it is obscured, by puddles, leaves,snow, whatever.


My aphorisms have been generated by close calls, either personally or vicariously through the misfortunes of others. In the case of obscured surfaces, besides the newspaper report about the leaves, I personally hit a pothole hidden by a puddle, but fortunately just tore my nice cycling jacket. So I read of cycling accidents and safety suggestions to sympathize and learn.

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
…Wow, ***,sorry to hear about this. It sounds like a “major” crash, especially with such damage. I won’t ask “what happened?,” but posting details for me at least gives me renewed attention to such situations on the road

Last edited by Jim from Boston; 08-11-16 at 05:53 AM.
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Old 08-11-16 | 06:34 AM
  #47  
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I think the more bike skills you have, the more you can avoid an accident. A good way to learn some skills is by mtb riding. You will learn to improve your balance, traction (esp in slippery conditions), brake modulation (esp hard front braking), bunny hops (hopping over obstacles), proper gear selection and more.
Then, there is experience riding on the roads and there is only one way to get that, go ride.
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Old 08-11-16 | 07:36 AM
  #48  
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stay home, keep helmet on.
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Old 08-11-16 | 07:38 AM
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Originally Posted by corrado33
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXqa...nel=FunnyClips


Have you ever STOOD in 6+ inches of moving water? It's hard enough to stand there, let alone ride a bike.
ive walked in 6 feet of moving water, at least i was tall enough to keep breathing
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Old 08-11-16 | 07:57 AM
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Originally Posted by SloButWide
Moving water is a whole nother story:


Not that I like a cyclist's chances in moving water either.
True. I should point out, lest anyone this was casual and low risk and be tempted to emulate, several things I knew before attempting it. I knew the water level within a few inches from https://water.weather.gov and from slogging through there numerous times at lower levels. I knew the upstream levels, and the rainfall in the watershed area so I knew there would be no flash flood rise. I knew exactly where the path was and what it does having been over it literally thousands of times. And finally I knew what the creek current is like there at flood levels.

There's no way I'd ride through water that deep randomly, nor an overflowed creek that I didn't know intimately.

Originally Posted by wphamilton
I rode through 2.5 feet on a commute home one day, successfully if you can call it that. Lubing hubs and chain and bottom bracket cost me about an hour and a half, compared to saving maybe 10 minutes going around. Not the smartest choice, but I wanted to see if I could do it without getting bogged down.
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