Witnessed a pretty nasty fall on way to work this morning.Some bloke in his late 40s just fell off his bike just in front of my car.No cars were anywhere near him,at first i thought he had fainted.
I jumped out put the hazards on to see if he needed assistance.His face was a mess nose,cheekbone all mashed,after checking him over and helping him to his feet I noticed his bike.
My god,hes riding around on a bike made in the seventies,the most rusted piece of junk i’ve ever seen,the old quill stem all bent out of shape this bike had to be seen to be believed,rusted out paniers,rusted out wheels,old dilapidated tyres,no helmet,riding in normal clothing,the bike was a mess to start with before the crash.Its a wonder he did’nt go under someones wheels for sure.Do you think “the powers that be” should be more stringent on the law surrounding bike maintenance and safety on our roads.

Nah.
Given there failure to enforce all the current laws, I’m not sure any more will be useful. Bicycles falling to bits doesn’t seem to come high up in the list of reasons for fatalities.

Do you think “the powers that be” should be more stringent on the law surrounding bike maintenance and safety on our roads.

What, by ‘qualified’ people like the Instructor that demanded the saddle be lowered so that my sons feet could touch the ground when he did cycling at school?

my prediction:

Halfords would get the contract to inspect bikes/issue certificates.

and then we’d all be riding around with our forks on backwards…

😉

Yes, at a well known night cx race last autumn there was a bike check which consisted of a bloke with a girt big Allen key giving stem bolts a good old tightening up. When I suggested that he might want to use a torque wrench on herself’s full carbon cx race bike as otherwise he’d be looking at buying a new fork he went all quiet and said that its be just fine as it was.
Bike checks are a pointless waste of time – except for visual inspections which might then lead to proper workshop service/ strip down.

riding in normal clothing

Oh the humanity!

I wish you could have seen this bike,I think a visual inspection would have been enough for the old bill to confiscate the thing before he kills himself or someone swerves to miss him and kills another road user.Its probabley an old argument but i think helmets should be manditory,it might have saved his face.

Do you think “the powers that be” should be more stringent on the law surrounding bike maintenance

What law?

and safety on our roads.

Yes those big metal boxes that kill folk they should check them more often

Obviously an unsafe bike should no tgo on the road but how would you enforce it?

Yes huws,just outlining that safety wasn’t his main priority,i on the occasion nip up the shops in my jeans but riding to work with trousers,work boot and a full on hi-viz security jacket,thats gotta be a little distracting.well he was wearing hi-viz i suppose.

Thats a good question Junkyard,until this morning i hadn’t even thought about it,I assumed anyone riding to work on a regular basis would keep there bike in check.It drives me nuts riding with my gears slightly out of allignment let alone riding somthing falling apart,surely its gotta be harder work riding a clunker?

Ahwiles 😆

Witnessed a pretty nasty fall on way to work this morning.Some bloke in his late 40s just fell off his bike just in front of my car.No cars were anywhere near him

So not really a Road Traffic Accident* Collision is it? Just an old bloke falling off his bike, happens to me weekly.

*RTA There is no such thing as an accident, someone is always to blame apparently