The dangers of little wheels

[Cyclezee]

Wearing my other hat this afternoon, non the cycling type, I was called out to assist at one of the hospitals in my area.
A 10 year old girl had fallen off her bike and in the process fractured her lower jaw in 2 places, smashed and impacted several teeth in her upper jaw. She is very pretty, but her smile won't be for quite a long time. I won't go into detail, but she was stabilised, the fractures 'plated' and remains of her upper teeth temporarily splinted.

I spoke to the parents, who were by that time more distressed than the little girl, and asked them what had happened. She was riding her chopper style bike with small diameter front wheel and larger rear one. The front wheel went into a pothole, the bike came to a dead stop and she was thrown over the handlebars landing chin first on the road. She was wearing a helmet, but this gave no protection to the lower part of the face and jaws.

When I asked how the bike was just to lighten things a bit, Dad said it is going to the dump and would be replaced by by a new one with larger wheels.
Tough little kid has also fallen of horses and got straight back on again, so I guess it won't be long until she is riding a bright shiny new bike.

Take care out there!

 

[indalo]

Cheers. You can always be relied upon to cheer us all up!

Hope the kid makes a full recovery in time and isn't deterred from cycling.

Indalo

 

[Cyclezee]

Cheers. You can always be relied upon to cheer us all up!

Hope the kid makes a full recovery in time and isn't deterred from cycling.

Indalo

Hi Indalo,

Would you like me to tell you about how I was nearly killed by a Police car last week coming at me on the wrong side of the road round a blind corner blue light flashing and sirens going. Thought my end had come and I was in a car

Be careful out there.

 

[indalo]

Would you like me to tell you about how I was nearly killed by a Police car last week coming at me on the wrong side of the road round a blind corner blue light flashing and sirens going.

I'm surprised you didn't mention it before.....or perhaps I missed it?

Dangerous places, roads!

Indalo

 

[Cyclezee]

I'm surprised you didn't mention it before.....or perhaps I missed it?

Dangerous places, roads!

Indalo

Did no one tell you Indalo that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit Believe me I know, many years experience in the field has made me an expert

 

[indalo]

Did no one tell you Indalo that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit Believe me I know, many years experience in the field has made me an expert

I knew that but I'm happy to concede your superior knowledge.

Indalo

 

[flecc]

Are roads all that dangerous? I bet they are an unreliable place to attempt suicide!

Seriously, the way kids often wear helmets often makes them useless. The web image below illustrates this well, the lad on our right wearing his in a useless way, the lad on our left wears his much more sensibly:

 

[indalo]

Are roads all that dangerous? I bet they are an unreliable place to attempt suicide!

The vast majority of road traffic accidents occur on roads, (nothing escapes me Flecc!) but how the numbers should be viewed is worthy of discussion. Statistics is a branch of mathematics which causes many mathematicians to become animated and argumentative. The phrase, "Lies, damned lies and statistics" (sic) comes to mind but even that causes argument as Mark Twain reckoned that Disraeli had said it but there is no record anywhere in his speeches or papers of him ever using those words. The origins are uncertain but it has been used many times over many years.

My problem with RTAs is the fact that we have come to accept the expression as a coverall term for all kinds of serious and minor occurrences on our roads. Most of the crashes, major and minor, are not accidents at all. I'm not suggesting they are caused deliberately but they are usually the result of somebody's stupidity or someone's inappropriate speed or aggressive driving. To refer to the carnage which sometimes ensues as being the result of an accident is benevolent in the extreme. It's a bit like saying Fred West accidentally killed lots of young women.

Powerful vehicles are potentially very dangerous and none of us knows who's driving the one coming up fast behind us or who's racing round a bend on the wrong side of the road. Blues and twos do give a slight clue of course but even police vehicles can cause "accidents." The word, "incident" is more appropriate I think.

Indalo

 

[flecc]

none of us knows who's driving the one coming up fast behind us.

Mirror, mirror on the bar
Who is the smartest of all by far?

Meeee! I don't have those accidents because of my mirror!

even police vehicles can cause "accidents."

Over a number of years the rate of deaths caused by Metropolitan Police was four times that of the rest of the population. Needless to say they didn't issue this statistic.

 

[indalo]

Mirror, mirror on the bar
Who is the smartest of all by far?

Meeee! I don't have those accidents because of my mirror!

I got all sensible recently Flecc and fitted the Mirrycle to my bar end and a fine piece of kit it is. It came with a guarantee but I'm pretty certain that nowhere did it warrant that the prat I can see in the mirror won't still clip me or knock me into the path of oncoming traffic.

It's always a source of amusement to me that when I'm driving my truck, most cars coming the other way tend to give way to me when road space is tight. When I'm on my bike, the opposite applies. Perhaps size does matter?

Indalo

 

[Cyclezee]

In my humble opinion, a decent corretly adjusted mirror is the best accessory that can be fitted to a bike. Relatively cheap and easy to fit. The Mirrycle is my mirror of choice.
Maybe they should be fitted as standard as they are on cars?

 

[funkylyn]

In my humble opinion, a decent corretly adjusted mirror is the best accessory that can be fitted to a bike. Relatively cheap and easy to fit. The Mirrycle is my mirror of choice.
Maybe they should be fitted as standard as they are on cars?

That is definately near the top of my list of wants at the bike show this saturday.....the last one i bought was rubbish.

As for bigger being safer.....I certainly feel safer driving my motorhome than the car and appreciate the nice lorry drivers flashing me in when I zoom past them !

Hope the little girl makes a full recovery very soon......sounds like she is very brave, poor mite......

Lynda

 

[lemmy]

. It's a bit like saying Fred West accidentally killed lots of young women.

is it, though? Fred West set out with the intention to kill young women. I don't think many many drivers set out with the intention of causing harm. Therefore the incidents are correctly described as accidents.

The fact that it wasn't intended doesn't imply that it wasn't irresponsible or foolhardy but it remains an accident unless it was intended. It's simply what the word means.

About size mattering, I don't think its size. The other driver sees a threat to him from your truck and gives way. He sees no threat when you are on your bike and does not give way.

 

[the_killjoy]

Need to go back to fitting those floppy reflector arms to the back of the bike, the way they flap in the wind draws attention the way the way a rigid reflector doesn't.

 

[piotrmacheta]

I blame the pothole and not the bike's small wheel - fix the root cause. I nearly came off my bike when I got a pinch flat after hitting a big pothole in the dark and I had 700c wheels on the bike.
If you want really dangerous then it's got to be smoking and cycling on main roads - especially if you do it at the same time!

 

[Mussels]

I blame the rider for not looking where she was going, the same thing happens to kids on all types of bike.
I was having a great time at the weekend on 12" wheels until I attempted the table top ramp.

 

[Cyclezee]

I don't think it is a question of blame in this case. Why does someone or something invariably have to be blamed.
Is it not possible for a set of circumstances to occur simultaneously resulting in a pure and simple accident without someone being to blame.

 

[flecc]

I don't think it is a question of blame in this case. Why does someone or something invariably have to be blamed.
Is it not possible for a set of circumstances to occur simultaneously resulting in a pure and simple accident without someone being to blame.

But then some would insist it's God or the Devil to blame!

 

[Cyclezee]

But then some would insist it's God or the Devil to blame!

At the risk of being struck by a thunderbolt, I don't believe in either of the aforementioned extremely dangerous entities.

Charles Darwin on the other hand.............OMG, what is that distant rumbling noise, better don my helmet quick This could be my last post...............