How often do grown-up cyclists have accidents?

[Si]

Well, so far I don't think that I've had a cycling accident.
Plenty of crashes but no accidents

[sonic777]

Normally the day after filling in an internet poll saying they haven't had one for ages!

You shouldn't have said that mate you've just proper jinxed me!!!

[mountainman531]

From the numbers of "accidents" some people have it seems to me that some people need cycle training.
There is no such thing as an accident all collisions have a cause, usually operator error.
I hope the poster who got a right hook is taking the perpatrator to court.

[meic]

But not all accidents are collisions (unless you count the ground )

[EdinburghFixed]

From the numbers of "accidents" some people have it seems to me that some people need cycle training.
There is no such thing as an accident all collisions have a cause, usually operator error.

Maybe you can recommend me a course which covers:

- how to not fall off when your axle breaks
- how to not fall off on the velodrome
- how to not fall off when you pedal strike
- etc...

Youtube shows us that even professionals come off on the velodrome, or on the TDF. Why didn't they just get some cycle training? After all, it's just operator error!

[Si]

To be fair, I think that although not explicitly stated, the jist of the OP was concerning incidents during normal cycling on the road rather than racing/MTBing/track riding, etc where the circumstances are a little different.

Pedal strike I would class as user error in most incidences....it's why my FW is faster as a SS than as a fixie-because if I road it like an SS in fixed mode then i'd probably be off on every corner

But on the other hand, a snapped axle is pretty unforseeable in practical terms (I'm sure that you could strip the bike down between every ride and test each component in the lab...but I said in practical terms).

Not sure about the off that I reported the other day - sprinting up a hill when the crank snapped. The crank had shown no signs of damage when I fitted it a couple weeks ago (had previously had it on my old fixie for a couple of years), so you might say that it was unforseeable - an accident. But, a couple of years ago, when I got the crankset, some one had pointed out that that type had a bit of a rep for snapping years ago. Thus, if I'd headed the warning then the 'accident' wouldn't have happened.

Oh well, you pays your money and takes your chances.....but I still suspect that there are a number of incidents reported as 'accidents' which could have been avoided.

[EdinburghFixed]

*Anything* can be avoided with sufficient preparation / precaution from all concerned... I assumed that we were using the common meaning of the work 'accident', i.e. 'incident'.

[Si]

Well, following on from another thread on a similar subject, I think it worth pointing out that a lot of the mis-haps that we often mention are not inevitable but down to someone messing up, thus should anyone be considering starting cycling it is not inevitable that "accidents" will happen as much as might seem from such threads.

I'm happy to admit that several times I have come off due to me over-doing things rather than due to an unforseeable incident - if I'd ridden a little more carefully or checked my bike a little better before riding, then I wouldn't have had the "accident". Cycling isn't as dangerous as threads like this might suggest to some!

[minkie]

*Anything* can be avoided with sufficient preparation / precaution from all concerned... I assumed that we were using the common meaning of the work 'accident', i.e. 'incident'.

I had a stab at covering this on the orginal post by: "Let's say an accident is an impact while riding that causes you injury."
But I didn't think to cover where you are when you get injured.

The spread of responses is really interesting, but it seems harsh to say that number of accidents is related to level of skill.
Luck, road type, time of day, speed, weather conditions you ride in and congestion must be as significant as skill.

[Tony1968]

Last spill I had was about 12,000 miles ago. Nobody else involved, just me and some black ice. With a couple of bolts in my right hip and 4 months on crutches I was able to get back on the bike a wiser man!

If you overtake someone doing 10mph just because there's a bit of frost on the road it's probably me!

[sonic777]

*Anything* can be avoided with sufficient preparation / precaution from all concerned... I assumed that we were using the common meaning of the work 'accident', i.e. 'incident'.

Anything can be avoided but not everything

[Grandad]

Cycling 68 years, stopped seriously counting miles 11 years ago after reaching 300,000. Now about 5,000 a year.

Fell into unlit roadworks at age 14 - minor cuts.

Taken out by car turning left 13 years ago - damaged ligaments, 2 months off bike and new bike from the compensation. Recovered enough to ride the Mersey Roads 24.

[Gotte]

Of course I'm probably jinxing myself, but the last accident I had was in 1979 when I was racing too close behind my friend's car. He braked. I braked. My front brake cable snapped and I went into the back of him, sending me over the bars and onto his boot, and bending my wheel and front fork. Of course, I was 15, so had the excuse of beeing young and foolish. About the worst I've done since then is bang my peddle on too high a curb, which made me wobble a bit.

[Crazydave]

I voted for every 6000-8000 miles. I have had 4 accidents in the last 7 years, none of them serious. I have been cycling 7 years. I probably cover around 4000 miles/ year making a total of ~28000 miles, so actually one every ~7000 miles. That said, I haven't been a grown up cyclist all the time. According to the biased car insurance policies, teenage males are the most dangerous people on the road. I was 14 when I started cycling.

[Galaxy-Tourer]

I've been cycling on the roads for 25 years, virtually every day of the year.
I have cycled in Norwich, London, Brighton and various smaller towns and villages.
I have had 4 crashes/collisions (where I came off) - all of them in NORWICH. Numpties, for sure.

1) hit from behind on a roundabout (at front of the queue to enter r-bout, I looked behind, signalled right ... I sensed the car behind me getting closer and closer and it took him half the roundabout to actually drive into me. He said I pulled out in front of him w/o warning, but I suspect he was fiddling with his radio).

2) Same roundabout. Again, at the front of the queue to enter the roundabout. I was planted squarely in front of the driver's windscreen so he couldn't NOT see me. He just got trigger-happy and drove over me ! He was very apologetic and said he saw me, and couldn't explain what happened.

3) Biking happily along a one-way street (going the right way). A pedestrian stepped out from behind a 4x4 w/o looking, and I rode over him. There were 2 police on the pavement, who berated me for not wearing a helmet. What? I hurt my hand, not my head ! It was the pedestrian who hurt his head by crossing the road without looking first ... but they didn't give him a ticking off.

4) Another pedestrian, crossing on a Red Man - he didn't even look at me before stepping in front of my bike. I hit him, came off and buckled my wheel. He just walked off, with me chasing after him, saying "look what you did to my wheel"


I have many, many, near-misses - mostly on cycle lanes. We have a lot of off-road bike lanes here, but they are mostly used by pedestrians and dog-walkers, who step in front of me w/o looking and w/o warning. I have a bell & a horn, which are routinely ignored. I give up - I just shout "Bikes" at them now and cruise past.