Jersey coroner says foot stuck in clipless pedal led to cyclist's death

hairyairey wrote:

I think the coroner is in for a surprise from Shimano when they write back to tell them how many they sell and precisely how many of them have led to fatalities.

Without downplaying what is a terrible tragedy this is a warning to people to not ride on the road with equipment they can't control. I would reckon (although I have no evidence) that tri-bars have been involved in many more accidents and despite having used them in the past I would have to say they should not be allowed on public roads.

(Ducks to avoid incoming...)

There are plenty of other things used on public roads that have caused many, many more deaths than any bike-related equipment.

mikeprytherch wrote:

KiwiMike wrote:

no. No. NO. N-O.

"...causing him to lose his balance and fall under a passing van"

He did NOT 'fall under a passing van'. You cannot 'fall under' something. You fall over, then IT runs OVER you.

This reply sickens me almost as much as this horrible accident, so I'm going to play devils advocate here..

Whilst I might apologise for your illness, I make zero apology for my reply. Maybe in a tiny, *tiny* percentage of KSI collisions there was genuinely nothing the driver could have done - such as a cyclist veering head-on into the path of a vehicle with no warning. But what many people on here have shown is just how pervasive the 'there but for the grace of god go I' attitude is in the UK. No wonder so many juries acquit drivers who could have and should have taken a lot more care.

As the operator of the heavier vehicle you have an obligation to defer to other more vulnerable road users, to allow for their errors. That seems anathema to 99% of UK drivers.

That's what is sickening, because it kills people every day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvLaTupw-hk

oozaveared wrote:

I work with a the Police quite a lot and several of my mates are still Road Traffic Officers in Surrey. The times we have heard "There was nothing I could do" after a collision would boggle your mind.

People walking out, cyclists falling off, stuff falling off other vehicles, drivers pulling out in front of you. These all happen. They happen hundreds even thousands of times everyday across the country. The difference between many good drivers and the others is that good drivers don't hit everything that lands in or comes in to their path.

This is not voodoo. It's not luck. Most supposedly "unavoidable collisions" are actually avoidable.

I have to somewhat agree with the above. Whilst it's clear that the cyclist made a hideous inexperienced error, I dont think it's as simple as there was nothing the driver could have done because the cyclist started on the pavement.

If I'm driving I always slow down or give room to "vulnerable" people on the pavement. If there's room I drive further out away from pavement, if there's no room then I slow down. I always do this if I see a kid on a bike on the pavement, as there's a slim chance* they might fall off or slip in the road.

Slow down? But they're on the pavement you say?

It is clearly not acceptable to closely pass a cyclist at speed if they are on the road for obvious reasons. Why is then acceptable to hammer past closely if they are on a narrow shared-path? Just because they are raised above the road surface, why does that mean it's suddenly okay to pass closely and quickly with no-room-for-error?

*In fact it's not even a "slim chance". A large proportion of cyclists killed are KIDS that badly transitioned from the pavement to the road.

Matt eaton wrote:

Personally I have fallen off due to not being able to release quickly enough from my pedals but I've had this experience on clipless, toe clips and even flat pedals with studs. I have also crashed due to slipping off of flat pedals. Although I haven't experienced it myself I know that unclipping accidently can also pose problems.

Indeed... I have been riding clipless for a little under 2 decades now, and was riding with toe-clips and straps for the decade before that. As far as I can recall, I have not fallen as a result of being unable to release fast enough. And on the few occasions I have fallen (MTB and road), the pedals have released during the fall.

I have, however, had one messy accident*, and two very close misses that could have been nasty, as a result of one of my pedals releasing when I was accelerating hard.

But I would not blame the pedals (or Shimano) for any of those three incidents. The problems were (in differing proportions each time): over-worn cleats, release mechanism not really tight enough for how I was cycling at the time, odd movement as I was accelerating whereby I moved my heel out a bit far. Ultimately, the responsibility for all these lies with me - I should have ensured my cleats were in good condition, that the release mechanism was tight enough, and I was not being sloppy with my cycling technique.

Conceivably that might not be the case in all instances (e.g., if poor manufacturing causes something to break when being used within design specification), but I would very much expect the proportion of these vs. proportion of user error/'negligence' to be very small.

Relating to this story, I do feed very sad for all those involved. But I struggle to see how a very well proven product can be stated as being inherently dangerous.

[* Thankfully the only involved parties were the road, my bike and me - no cars/pedestrians/other cyclists/animals were harmed in the process]

argotittilius wrote:

I'm pretty sure that clipless pedals release your feet when you go over.

That has also been my experience.

teaboy wrote:

There are plenty of other things used on public roads that have caused many, many more deaths than any bike-related equipment.

Mobile phones for example.