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news
Rear rack.jpgLucky escape for driver as bike falls off rear rack of overtaking car (+ link to video)
A motorist has posted footage to Facebook of the moment a bike fell off the rear rack of a car travelling at 50mph that had just overtaken the vehicle he was driving.
The dashcam footage, which appears on the Deadline News website, was shot by John Worby who commented that he was “lucky” not to have been injured when the bike, one of two strapped onto the rear rack of the 4x4.
The bike bounced a couple of times on the road surface before landing on the right-hand verge.
9 of the best cycling car racks
The incident happened near Buntingford, Hertfordshire, and Mr Worby said: “Bad driving, maybe not, but I was so lucky.”
One commenter to the post, David Fuller, said: “So many times you see bikes hanging off the back of cars that seem insecure, not to mention obscuring lights and number plate.
"I’m surprised there aren’t more bikes laying beside the roads.”
Last year, we reported how a motorist crashed near Newcastle when he had to swerve to avoid a bike that had fallen off a roof rack in front of him.
> Car sent crashing off busy Newcastle road after bike comes off roof rack
Luckily, no-one was hurt in the incident, which happened in November on the A19.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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18 comments
Yes, but it didn't. That's kinda the whole point.
Once had the whole old-fashion roof-rack with bikes strapped on upside down come off. Unbelievably the bikes landed rubber side down and rolled to a stop completely undamaged. Wish there had been such a thing as dash-cam back then as would have been worth a few bob!
Definitely a fake news story. At no point did the falling bike get within 20 feet of the following car
.
The "lucky escape" is that it bounced away to the side so not fake news. Could have caused the following vehicle to crash if it had bounced the other way.
Range Rover: Check
Bike Rack: Check
Two Bikes: Check
£5 for a set of bungees: NO WAY!
Of course, being a Range Rover it will almost certainly have had a tow ball so they could have got a towball mounted rack which would be more secure.
I saw this on facebooks BAD DRIVERS CAUGHT OUT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, and as it fell off you can see the brake lights come on for a few seconds but didnt stop because it was embarrissing on both counts, for the overtake at speed and the bike falling off and trashing it, overall it lost the time and more to get in front, just a shame there wasnt a pond as that would be fitting for a double somersault, triple twist and a pike, for a score of 9.5, lucky for the cam car though.
I saw the brake lights too, and couldn't decide whether the idiot saw the bike come off but then decided against stopping, or whether they were actually doing something to moderate their excessive speed!
FFS "lucky to be alive!!???"
in every car-bike collision it's only by the grace of providence that the occupants of the car survive. Why-oh-why are these two-wheeled killers still allowed on our roads, rather than the pavements where they belong?
It appears that the bike was only secured to the rack by gravity. Pretty dumb if you're going to speed over humps in the road at 70mph!
Looks like one a Saris Gran Fondo rack:
https://roadcyclinguk.com/gear/saris-gran-fondo-rack-review-1622.html#2t...
Bought a two new MTBs last year, and a new bike rack at the same time. Had the shop mount the rack on the car, and mount the two bikes on to it. One fell off on the highway (at night) on the way home. Luckily nothing too close behind. Stopped my car and as I approached the bike to retrieve it another car saw it late and caught the back wheel. Shop fixed up the bike as new (well, it was new) - but for plenty of good fortune it could have all been so much worse. Oh. And the ONLY time I ever lent a bike to anyone (Number 2) it fell of his bike rack. Is it just me?
Could be worse, I know someone who wrote a car off driving into a car port with a bike on the roof. The car roof was all sorts of odd shapes but at least the bike was only a £100 halfords job.
I wasn't even her car, it was her mum's.
Lucky escape indeed, we read every day how vulnerable these new cars are to bikes weighing about 10 kg!
I'd have stopped and scavenged it for parts, Mad Max style. Looked like it could have been worth something.
I looked like an Orange to me so worth a fair few £££. But despite them being very well made I doubt a 70 mph ish crash would do it much good.
Rear end fooked, but front wheel and forks look fine. Definitely worth a few quid.
quote
A motorist has posted footage to Facebook of the moment a bike fell off the rear rack of a car travelling at 50mph that had just overtaken the vehicle he was driving.
unquote
Such rubbish reporting, the orignal site was correct, the car with the dashcam was travelling at 50 mph. The 4x4 on the other hand was travelling at around 70 mph I reckon.
So the headine might have been better phrased
Speeding 4x4 driver drops debris that could have scratched my paintwork....
Nothing to see here
I had a similar escape once, when a ladder which was attached to a forklift (which in turn was attached to an HGV) came loose and bounced over my car.
The HGV driver had no idea. I managed to flag him down about 3kms from where it happened...