Cycling accident
jfan175
Posts: 812 Member
I'm still a little foggy, but I put this of Fb last night and got a lot of thank you's for the helmet warning, so if this helps anyone here it's worth it. I took a spill on my bike last night and conked my head really good. My helmet cracked and I received 6 stitches on the left side of my head. I don't remember anything about the ride, not even starting it. The accident happened about 4 miles in. I remember putting some chicken in the oven, and then nothing until being in the neuro unit at the hospital. My wife said that I was asking questions repeatedly and was disoriented, and I don't remember any of that. The MRI was negative for any bleeds and xrays were negative for any fractures. I have road rash on the L side of my body and arm. I'm still having a lot of memory issues, but the doctor said that this was common for a concussion and should resolve in time. They kept me overnight for observation and sent me home today. I have no clue as to what happened. Someone called the paramedics, there were no witnesses, and I'm left wondering. Luckily there was a carry out on the corner and they secured my bike for me (supposedly it looks undamaged). My computer tracked the ride and I was doing 14+mph approaching a turn and that's where it ended. This is scary folks....wear your helmets. I might be dead now if I didn't.
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Replies
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Glad to hear you wear your helmet. It's the law where I live and they still ride around like idiots with NO helmets, weaving about in and out. Thanks for posting!1
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A number of years ago I was right hooked. I was going an easy 15 or so. My shoulder caved in their quarter panel, breaking it. My head bounced off their hood. Cracked my helmet, but no damage beyond that, and destroying my front wheel!
It's not always enough to just have a helmet. Wear it right. Inspect it. Replace it as needed. Sure your vintage 70s helmet might look cool, but it ain't protecting anything!10 -
Wow, so glad you had on that helmet! I noticed everyone in the UK seemed to be wearing one, even casual riders/kids. In the US, not so much; it is worrisome. Your story is definitely one worth telling. Please update us on your progress; I know from working with high school students that concussions are no fun.1
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Wow. Thanks for the reminder. Glad you are okay! We all should wear our helmets on our two wheeled vehicles.
Also, cars need to watch out and reduce distracted driving! #itcanwait1 -
The concussion really will get better. Hang in there.1
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Glad you are "ok". It was thoughtful of you to post this reminder to others.2
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I am so glad you are okay and were wearing your helmet, it must be so frustrating not knowing what happened. I hope your head feels better soon, and the road rash-I have had severe road rash before, it’s is not a fun healing process.
Thank you so much for sharing this and reminding us all to wear our helmets, you are potentially saving someone life by sharing your story!1 -
I'm glad you're okay. I started cycling almost a year ago and it surprises me the number of casual riders I see that don't wear helmets. Even in my short time riding I've been in a group ride where someone went down and have heard many stories from others. It's almost a matter of not if you'll go down at some point but when. Wishing you a speedy recovery and I hope your bike turns out to be okay too!3
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Wow, so glad you had on that helmet! I noticed everyone in the UK seemed to be wearing one, even casual riders/kids. In the US, not so much; it is worrisome. Your story is definitely one worth telling. Please update us on your progress; I know from working with high school students that concussions are no fun.
Sadly not everyone in the UK, i see plenty of people without.
Glad you're ok OP0 -
I'm glad you're okay. I started cycling almost a year ago and it surprises me the number of casual riders I see that don't wear helmets. Even in my short time riding I've been in a group ride where someone went down and have heard many stories from others. It's almost a matter of not if you'll go down at some point but when. Wishing you a speedy recovery and I hope your bike turns out to be okay too!
The “not if but when” is so true with biking.2 -
try to ride in a group with people. Garmins can contact whoever you have listed if your bike has crashed or fallen, but its better to have people with you so if anything happens they are there to help you. im glad someone was there to call the EMS for you though. hope you recover and start riding again.1
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Glad your okay, Wish you a speedy recovery. Glad you had your helmet.1
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Get well soon.
Never ride without helmet ... and always know where your towel is ...2 -
Hope you get well soon, OP. Glad that your helmet spared you greater injury.
FWIW, your experience and others similarly reported is the reason I never road or ever wanted to ride a bike on public roadways. Just too dangerous to me and this is the perspective of a person who road a motorcycle for over 45 yrs and who had a couple of fall down/slide outs (some resulting in injuries) but never an encounter w/a car.
When I road, I wore a motorcycle helmet, gloves, boots and full protective gear. Far more safety equipment than any bicyclist does and a motorcycle has the advantage of speed and agility to avoid accidents that far suppasses that of a bicycle. Motorcycles are built to travel at great speed, bicyles are not.
Of course, motocycling is still dangerous but the odds are more in your favor on the roadway. Bicyclists are at a huge disadvantage there and I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to place themselves at risk in that way, regardless of how much they enjoy riding a bike.
When I've ridden a bicycle it was only in areas closed to vehicular traffic. In SF, this was at the Polo Grounds on weekdays and certain areas of GG Park on weekends. That's all the bicycling I've ever done which most bicyclists would find too restrictive. But when ever you share the roadway w/cars and trucks, your risk of injury rises exponentially and insisting on the right to do so as a bicyclist is just asking for trouble IMO.
My opinion will, of course, not change anything. To all bicyclists, just remain vigilant and mindful of traffic. Any mistake by a driver could cost you your life and your life is in their hands whenever one passes you in the roadway., whether you are wearing a skimpy bicycle helmet or not.
Please remember that.3 -
Glad you aren't hurt too badly. Thanks for the helmet reminder.0
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My father used to way...there are 3 things that leave you vulnerable. A horse. A motorcycle. A bicycle. He did all three but always wore a helmet and as much leather as he could. Wishing you a full recovery.0
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WickAndArtoo wrote: »I'm glad you're okay. I started cycling almost a year ago and it surprises me the number of casual riders I see that don't wear helmets. Even in my short time riding I've been in a group ride where someone went down and have heard many stories from others. It's almost a matter of not if you'll go down at some point but when. Wishing you a speedy recovery and I hope your bike turns out to be okay too!
The “not if but when” is so true with biking.
Amen! That's exactly what I always tell my kids when they give me a hard time about wearing a helmet to school. And they've seen me get hit by a car as well as take a tumble and fracture my knee.
@jfan175, I'm so glad you walked away and that some good samaritan called the paramedics. Fingers crossed your memory gets better. Thank you for the PSA.0 -
I don't know that that is actually the case. The odds are seriously not in the favor of motorcyclists. From the results of a study done by members of the CDC which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology 2007 that analyzed accidents involving motor vehicles:Of course, motocycling is still dangerous but the odds are more in your favor on the roadway. Bicyclists are at a huge disadvantage there and I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to place themselves at risk in that way, regardless of how much they enjoy riding a bike.Annualized fatal injury rates are presented in table 2. The overall annualized fatality rate was 10.4 per 100 million person-trips. Motorcyclists had the highest fatality rate (536.6 per 100 million person-trips), followed by other vehicle occupants (28.4 per 100 million person-trips), bicyclists (21.0 per 100 million person-trips), pedestrians (13.7 per 100 million person-trips), passenger vehicle occupants (9.2 per 100 million person-trips), and bus occupants (0.4 per 100 million person-trips).
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Our findings quantify differences in traffic injury risk by mode of travel. We identified those groups that face the highest risks of traffic injury. Relative to passenger vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians are 58.3, 2.3, and 1.5 times, respectively, more likely to be fatally injured on a given trip.
So 536.6 fatalities per 100 million trips vs 21 fatalities per 100 million trips. The rates for nonfatal injures per 100 million trips were 10,336.6 for motorcyclists and 1,461.2 for cyclists. This of course, by no means, takes away the message that, at the end of the day, people need to pay attention to what they're doing when they're riding a bike (or a motorcycle) and they should wear a helmet. I think that's likely especially true for motorcyclists given the speed of travel - I'll leave you to google the nickname people who work in ER departments in the US supposedly have motorcyclists who don't wear helmets.2 -
Your helmet did it's job and worked properly. Get a new one before you ride again, and don't ride until you are fully recovered from this concussion.1
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Sobering story, too often repeated. I'm glad you're as OK as you are. Things sound as if you will recover OK.
My current (new) helmet isn't simply a "lid," I got one that's "MIPS" rated - supposedly ameliorates the sloshing around inside your skull the brain does when your head impacts. In years past (many years past - I'm in my "cycling life 2.0," riding again after 30+ yrs not), both my wife and I have needed our helmets - she was bumped by a right-turning car and walloped into a parked car with her head as a result. My saddle bolts loosened and I tipped over backwards, skidding down the road inverted on my head for a few feet. Both of us OK, and both of us lifelong believers in helmets as a result.
As others have said, a bike helmet is "one and done." Needs to be replaced. Some makers have a collision-replacement policy.
Coincidentally, bicycling magazine (bicycling.com) has two pertinent articles today: one on helmet ratings for protectiveness, and one on a fatal, apparently-deliberate hit-and-run in Florida. A father was killed and his two young sons riding with him injured.0 -
Do have a link to this new hemet? I'd love to see how they claim to help with brain sloshing around with impact.Sobering story, too often repeated. I'm glad you're as OK as you are. Things sound as if you will recover OK.
My current (new) helmet isn't simply a "lid," I got one that's "MIPS" rated - supposedly ameliorates the sloshing around inside your skull the brain does when your head impacts. In years past (many years past - I'm in my "cycling life 2.0," riding again after 30+ yrs not), both my wife and I have needed our helmets - she was bumped by a right-turning car and walloped into a parked car with her head as a result. My saddle bolts loosened and I tipped over backwards, skidding down the road inverted on my head for a few feet. Both of us OK, and both of us lifelong believers in helmets as a result.
As others have said, a bike helmet is "one and done." Needs to be replaced. Some makers have a collision-replacement policy.
Coincidentally, bicycling magazine (bicycling.com) has two pertinent articles today: one on helmet ratings for protectiveness, and one on a fatal, apparently-deliberate hit-and-run in Florida. A father was killed and his two young sons riding with him injured.
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Here's a Trek Youtube video on MIPS. I happen to have one of these helmets. Other mfgs make MIPS as well.
https://youtu.be/L37FuBqQxFQ
Here's the bicycling.com article link. MIPS is mentioned.
https://www.bicycling.com/news/a21932579/bike-helmet-ratings/
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So glad you are okay. Helmets do save lives. It is not surprising that you don't recall what hastened. It is common in head trauma. It takes, on average, 15 minutes for information to move from short term to long term memory. Sounds like the crash happened less than 15 minutes after you left the house.
A former colleague was mountain biking. Flipped and hit a rock head first. Had a lot of stitches, a broken nose. But lived because he wore a helmet.
I started wearing one the summer I ride my bicycle from Boston MA to Burlington every day for a summer coop. Back them the light weight helmets were hundreds of dollars so I had a thick shell dorky helmet.
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TavistockToad wrote: »Wow, so glad you had on that helmet! I noticed everyone in the UK seemed to be wearing one, even casual riders/kids. In the US, not so much; it is worrisome. Your story is definitely one worth telling. Please update us on your progress; I know from working with high school students that concussions are no fun.
Sadly not everyone in the UK, i see plenty of people without.
Glad you're ok OP
Yet in, for example, the Netherlands, helmet use is unusual. It's very context dependent.
I'd also note that some research indicates that helper use can increase risk appetite in both riders and drivers.
I do wear one as a matter of course, but they're not a panacea.0 -
Following up on my previous post.
Not shilling for Bicycling magazine, it's just one of the regular bookmarks I peruse in my daily readings. Lengthy article on auto-related bicycling accidents.
https://www.bicycling.com/news/a20020341/broken-when-traffic-laws-fail-cyclists/
I found it linked through a chain of other, similar articles.
I'm riding again after 30+ years for health and pleasure reasons. My goal was "80% trail, 20% road." Years ago, I wasn't so worried about traffic accidents, even though I knew some riders - including my then-girlfiend-now-wife - who had encounters with vehicles. But they were different times, and, it seems, different drivers, and, certainly, a different me. It took me a few months to go onto roads more than just my local neighborhood; I stuck mostly to local rail trails and MUPs such as the local beach National Park. I've been venturing onto roads more and more, even commuting to the local beach (I live near the shore) a couple of times a week (9 mi r/t). Flashing running lights, high-vis gear, mirrors and good road practices including route choice make me feel safe(er). But I'm still concerned. While we have good "share the road" infrastructure around here, we don't have separated bike lanes. I just visited my daughter up in Ottawa; they have such (at least in some areas - and decent bike infrastructure in general), and it's a different feeling.0 -
I don't know that that is actually the case. The odds are seriously not in the favor of motorcyclists. From the results of a study done by members of the CDC which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology 2007 that analyzed accidents involving motor vehicles:Of course, motocycling is still dangerous but the odds are more in your favor on the roadway. Bicyclists are at a huge disadvantage there and I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to place themselves at risk in that way, regardless of how much they enjoy riding a bike.Annualized fatal injury rates are presented in table 2. The overall annualized fatality rate was 10.4 per 100 million person-trips. Motorcyclists had the highest fatality rate (536.6 per 100 million person-trips), followed by other vehicle occupants (28.4 per 100 million person-trips), bicyclists (21.0 per 100 million person-trips), pedestrians (13.7 per 100 million person-trips), passenger vehicle occupants (9.2 per 100 million person-trips), and bus occupants (0.4 per 100 million person-trips).
...
Our findings quantify differences in traffic injury risk by mode of travel. We identified those groups that face the highest risks of traffic injury. Relative to passenger vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians are 58.3, 2.3, and 1.5 times, respectively, more likely to be fatally injured on a given trip.
So 536.6 fatalities per 100 million trips vs 21 fatalities per 100 million trips. The rates for nonfatal injures per 100 million trips were 10,336.6 for motorcyclists and 1,461.2 for cyclists. This of course, by no means, takes away the message that, at the end of the day, people need to pay attention to what they're doing when they're riding a bike (or a motorcycle) and they should wear a helmet. I think that's likely especially true for motorcyclists given the speed of travel - I'll leave you to google the nickname people who work in ER departments in the US supposedly have motorcyclists who don't wear helmets.
I can't imagine ER departments see many patients who were motorcyclists not wearing helmets.0 -
WickAndArtoo wrote: »I'm glad you're okay. I started cycling almost a year ago and it surprises me the number of casual riders I see that don't wear helmets. Even in my short time riding I've been in a group ride where someone went down and have heard many stories from others. It's almost a matter of not if you'll go down at some point but when. Wishing you a speedy recovery and I hope your bike turns out to be okay too!
The “not if but when” is so true with biking.
This is sadly true. My husband is an avid cyclist and is always saying "when" I get in to an accident. Not that he thinks that he is irresponsible or a bad rider or anything, but that we have such a problem with distracted driving any more.
OP I am glad to read that you are okay, thank you for sharing your story. My husband generally rides in groups, but I do know some people that ride solo and actually wear a GoPro for just the reason.1 -
stanmann571 wrote: »
I don't know that that is actually the case. The odds are seriously not in the favor of motorcyclists. From the results of a study done by members of the CDC which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology 2007 that analyzed accidents involving motor vehicles:Of course, motocycling is still dangerous but the odds are more in your favor on the roadway. Bicyclists are at a huge disadvantage there and I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to place themselves at risk in that way, regardless of how much they enjoy riding a bike.Annualized fatal injury rates are presented in table 2. The overall annualized fatality rate was 10.4 per 100 million person-trips. Motorcyclists had the highest fatality rate (536.6 per 100 million person-trips), followed by other vehicle occupants (28.4 per 100 million person-trips), bicyclists (21.0 per 100 million person-trips), pedestrians (13.7 per 100 million person-trips), passenger vehicle occupants (9.2 per 100 million person-trips), and bus occupants (0.4 per 100 million person-trips).
...
Our findings quantify differences in traffic injury risk by mode of travel. We identified those groups that face the highest risks of traffic injury. Relative to passenger vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians are 58.3, 2.3, and 1.5 times, respectively, more likely to be fatally injured on a given trip.
So 536.6 fatalities per 100 million trips vs 21 fatalities per 100 million trips. The rates for nonfatal injures per 100 million trips were 10,336.6 for motorcyclists and 1,461.2 for cyclists. This of course, by no means, takes away the message that, at the end of the day, people need to pay attention to what they're doing when they're riding a bike (or a motorcycle) and they should wear a helmet. I think that's likely especially true for motorcyclists given the speed of travel - I'll leave you to google the nickname people who work in ER departments in the US supposedly have motorcyclists who don't wear helmets.
I can't imagine ER departments see many patients who were motorcyclists not wearing helmets.
Given the number of organ donations that come from people who died in motorcycle accidents I suspect they get quite a number of them.1 -
I have a reaction when I see anyone riding a bike without a helmet...I shout
“HELMET!!!!!”
Imagine if that’s all you did (in a friendly way, not mean) and so the non helmet wearing person would keep hearing “HELMET” along their ride until they finally popped one on their fragile, important, life giving head!!!
Kind of like a human version of your car going PING! When you don’t put your seatbelt on
Xx1 -
I belong to a long distance cycling association that has had some interesting debate about helmet use - the demographic is probably older than the general population so it encompasses a lot of people like me who grew up when virtually no-one (even racers) wore a helmet.
One pointed out that per hour travelled by bike or car the rate of head injury is the same, but people don't advocate wearing a helmet for every car journey. So is it emotion rather than a real real assessment?
There was outrage from some quarters that one front cover in the monthly magazine had a picture of someone riding without a helmet. Countered by pro choice people pointing out it not the place of the association to have a stance on the matter.
There's also research that shows riders take more chances when wearing helmets (or is it that less cautious people dress in the expectation of an accident?).
There's also research that car drivers treat helmeted riders differently (more aggressively, give less space...) compared to bare headed riders. You become a "lycra lout" rather than a human being.
It's obvious that if you have an accident involving a blow to your head you would choose to be wearing a helmet but it's not as simplistic that everyone should wear one for every journey.
I've had one big accident where an appalling driver took me out, bike broken in two, I went over the car and landed on hands and head. The impact damage to my helmet was right over my temple and no doubt saved me from hospitalisation. But that's the only time I've hit my head in 50+ years of riding.
Most of my riding I wear one but there's times I choose not to. It's only a part of the safety jigsaw and can't replace primary safety of avoiding accidents in the first place.
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