Most of the crashes I’ve seen have invoved cycling muppetry, or inexperienced cyclists not knowing where the dangers are

Good point – worst one I’ve seen was cyclist turning right in outside lane of roundabout, car going straight on in inside lane. Bosh.
No doubt its east to put yourself in danger if you ride like a dope.

glenp, I was offended* by the declaration that cyclists that are unable to hear are unsafe.

And believe me, I have not ‘developed’ any other senses, I just usse the ones I still have available, the same ones an iPod wearer still has.

I’m not disputing that if you decide to impair one of your senses then you have to make sure you are using the others and that overall it might be better not to wear an iPod, but to carpet all of us, iPod users and the deaf and hard of hearing as ‘unsafe’ is just plain unfair.

*I’m not as offended as you might think, but I feel the need to draw attention as I hear comments like that far too frequently.

Sorry to go off on one about it once upon a time a good friend of mine was knocked off by a driver who suggested to the police officer who attended that my friend was riding witout due care and attention as he was wearing earphones and thus not paying enough attention to the traffic around him, it just really hits a nerve with me…

Its the same argument as speeding in some ways…
A driver doing 32 in a 30 zone but driving sensibly is arguably more safe than a driver doing 25 and weaving all over the road.

The safey of the cyclist is determined by their actions, riding skills, road positioning, observation etc, just because they can’t hear doesn’t make them unsafe.

Well I’m glad that you don’t find the point “incredibly offensive” (your words).

I didn’t say that you might develop additional senses (that would be a neat trick), rather that your remaining senses would presumably be better developed than might be the case in another individual.

I also strongly agree that no rider should ever be penalised for lack of care just for not being able to hear – but I do still think it is a good idea to do what you can to pick up little nuances of traffic behaviour and also to communicate with drivers where possible. When you commute a lot of the traffic is the same individuals coming past you every day – if you hear a certain car going a bit too aggressive one day (or see them, whatever), and you glance over your shoulder to remind them that you are there, then bit by bit you do as much as you can to keep safe.

Don’t be too passive, is what I’m saying. It was really the danger of putting on the iPod and switching off the brain that I was alluding to.

It was really the danger of putting on the iPod and switching off the brain that I was alluding to.

Ah right. So I was correct in saying it was irrelevant.

amedias – I’d be interested to know what the copper’s response was to the ‘due care..’ suggestion.

Most of the crashes I’ve seen have invoved cycling muppetry, or inexperienced cyclists not knowing where the dangers are

Can I add another crash to my question 3 answer; I was knocked off 3 years ago on a main road by some kid on a bmx with a sleeping bag in a stuff sack hanging from his handlebars. He was wobbling all over the place so I gave him about 10′ clearance as I overtook him. What I didn’t bank on was him turning right without signaling or looking behind him at just the wrong moment…

glenp – well it was late last night when I was ‘incredibly offended’ and it looks like the usual rules of forums have struck in that neither of us 100% understood the other’s point or intention which is so often the case when you cannot see the facial expressions or hear the tone of the other…so, my apologies for reacting a little too harshly to your post.

DezB – Unfortunately the Police officer in question felt duty bound to register the drivers complaint, as there were no independant witnesses and the driver had a passenger to support his claim that my friend was riding carelessly.

anyway we seem to have drifted off topic as usual, before any talk of Ocptopus related commuting accidents happens anyone else out there care to add to the statistics?

All part of the fun, amedias. Cheers to you.

Here we go then. Up to post 80, we had 61 replies with numbers in.

Total years: 682

Total serious injuries: 26

Total minor knocks: 119

Can’t wait to get back on the bike when my busted hand is better. (mtb injury, no cars involved 🙂 )

I make that roughly 30 years per serious injury and roughly 6 years per minor knock. And this is a poll of comparatively “busy” cyclists (more miles per year than average?).

Compared to mountain biking those aren’t bad numbers. How anyone can consider off road to be safer than on is a puzzle to me. Although I must admit that tarmac really bloody hurts when you hit it, so the minor scrapes are a lot more painful in general.