Staying safe

[munroad]

A friend of mine has just had his 3rd serious accident in 4 years.
First was on a bright frosty January morning. Slipped on black ice and fractured neck of femur. Helicoptered to hospital and had total hip replacement.
Second was caused by tyre blow out. Artificial hip broke a big fragment off femur. Two further ops.
Third one unknown cause. Just came off going round a bend. Shattered pelvis. Big op with screws and plates to put him back together.
Dexa scan ok so no obvious bone fragility. I’ve never been out with him so don’t know if he rides like a mad man.

What do readers here do to lessen risk? Has anyone with metal in lower limbs been advised to stop cycling because effects of further accident could be catastrophic? Any self imposed rules about staying in if frosty or slippy leaves?

[meic]

Dexa scan ok so no obvious bone fragility.

So possibly he is very unlucky. Or very bad at landing.
I havent had anything like that even with countless motorcycle crashes.

[LollyKat]

It sounds as if he'd be better with a recumbent trike.

[eileithyia]

I do wonder if we have a spate of accidents, admittedly mine were not directly attributable to my riding but had several accidents in relatively short space of time.
Right turner = broken plated collar bone
Left Hook = broken elbow and thumb
Son rode into the back of me and brought me off = broken elbow
T'other half hooked my bars and brought me off = broken elbow on otherside while still recovering from above

But people who habitually come off it does make me wonder if they are observing conditions and riding appropriately.

[mjr]

Studded or soft tyres taken very gently on ice, treaded tyres to handle leaves and other crud. That's about it, really. I've gone sliding down the road a few times over decades but no serious injury. I think the worst injury I've had was from bruising from bumping through a pothole but I don't really push it to the limit much.

[Vorpal]

I've not yet had a crash that resulted in injuries. I had an off once due to black ice. I skinned my knee and ruined my favourite tights, but I was pulling a trailer, which both meant I wasn't going that fast, and had the extra stability from the trailer. Mini V and Littlest were in the trailer. Mini V might have been 4 at the time & laughed to see mum skidding down the road. I've had a couple of other offs. None serious.

I've also had various near misses.

In my opinion, the best way to stay safe is to assume that every other road user is a homicidal maniac, so I should expect them to do things that are strange, stupid, and liable to kill me.

Otherwise, use Bikeability, experience, and a good dose of caution.

The other thing is, when I've had an off, or a near miss, I sort of analyse it. Think about whether there was anything I could have done differently that would have prevented it.

For example, one time, I was overtaken by a van a little ways before a junction. I followed the van through the junction, and had a near miss with a BMW whose driver began to turn, after the van cleared the junction. The BMW driver saw me & stopped, and I wobbled around his front bumper, but my leg was shaving close to that bumper. When I analysed the incident later in my head, I realised that the BMW driver had been unable to see me because of the van. Since, if I am following a vehicle that I cannot see over, I hang back a bit.

[gbnz]

"the best way to stay safe is to assume that every other road user is a homicidal maniac, so I should expect them to do things that are strange, stupid, and liable to kill me..

"

Same here, I assume other road users will kill me. Works quite well, I've directly witnessed 10-12 crashes in the last ten years and I'm still here.

Though in the OP's case, it sounds as if the cyclists involved isn't sufficiently competent to be on a bike, perhaps due to age?

[mercalia]

wow I must be getting all his luck.

[Username]

Dexa scan ok so no obvious bone fragility.

So possibly he is very unlucky. Or very bad at landing.
I havent had anything like that even with countless motorcycle crashes.

Hmmmm....

I've never had a crash, but when I do, I WILL be killed as it will be a big one

[Samuel D]

Tyres with good traction in cold and damp conditions (e.g. Continental Grand Prix 4-Season) will significantly reduce your chances of slipping on winter roads.

Beyond that, riding well within the envelope of good traction, adopting Vorpal’s attitude to car drivers (no malice need by implied by this), and not riding in the very worst weather should help.

Although I’m young, my worst cycling injury was a hip one too. Nothing broken, but there was some sort of internal bruising that took months to heal, during which I couldn’t cycle.

[Vorpal]

Studded tyres are useful if it's icy. They're a bit of pain if you don't need them.

Continental Top Contact II (non-studded) winter tyres are an alternative as long as you aren't riding on shear ice.

[whoof]

Studded tyres are useful if it's icy. They're a bit of pain if you don't need them.

Continental Top Contact II (non-studded) winter tyres are an alternative as long as you aren't riding on shear ice.

That's why more than one bike is useful. In the winter I put studded tyres on my tourer, it had been below zero last night so this morning I used it to commute to work. Tomorrow I'll go back to my standard commuting bike.

[Carpediem]

Tyres with good traction in cold and damp conditions (e.g. Continental Grand Prix 4-Season) will significantly reduce your chances of slipping on winter roads.

Beyond that, riding well within the envelope of good traction, adopting Vorpal’s attitude to car drivers (no malice need by implied by this), and not riding in the very worst weather should help.

Although I’m young, my worst cycling injury was a hip one too. Nothing broken, but there was some sort of internal bruising that took months to heal, during which I couldn’t cycle.

Couldn't agree more with Samuel...conti 4 seasons (28mm) are brilliant for winter cycling,and touch wood extremely puncture resistant.
Might not be for 'proper' roadies but I never go out without lights either,day or night.

[foxyrider]

Is the OP's friend equally unlucky off the bike? Maybe he's just accident prone in general, some people certainly seem to be. OTOH others seem to get through life without a scratch - personally i'm in the middle, i've had various accidents over the years, only one properly broken bone (kneecap falling off bike), a variety of cuts and bruises at work, falling off bikes, doing DIY etc.

My last 'proper' bike off was @ 10 years ago ( a bad stop due to a car) but falls on snow, ice, mud I don't really count, broken bike has hurt once or twice, taken out by a fellow competitor is just a hazzard of racing.

Maybe I am lucky, I've had lots of near misses, as recently as this week but in over 40 years riding I've been to a&e just three times, only one of which resulted in being kept in (the kneecap) OTOH i've never suffered more than a sprain doing anything other active so perhaps cycling really is dangerous

[mjr]

Couldn't agree more with Samuel...conti 4 seasons (28mm) are brilliant for winter cycling,and touch wood extremely puncture resistant.
Might not be for 'proper' roadies but I never go out without lights either,day or night.

Daytime lights are basically a placebo unless it's almost dark - on bright days, you ain't gonna compete with the sun; on dull days, they serve to brighten your silhouette and reduce contrast with the background and it's contrast that research suggests is important; and when passing through dark spots on bright days, like trees, the danger is from motorists who don't slow right down while their eyes adapt and they can't see anything. But if they brighten your mood or you think they look pretty, carry on, as long as they're not dazzling other cyclists.

Anyway, what I was going to write before getting distracted: "extremely puncture resistant" may depend on your local road conditions. I think GP 4 seasons are regarded about as poorly as Gatorskins and GP 4000 around here, with the flint making short work of them, just less common.