Re: Had my first wreck today!!

Quoted message said:

Bill Sornson said:

Joe S. said:

How many wrecks do I need to qualify as a real cyclist?

You've arrived.

(On a mountain bike, it isn't officially a ride until someone bleeds. On a
road bike, flipping off a car is all that's required.)

Glad you're OK (and the bike, too, of course!), BS

I think you have to actually lose some skin or bleed. Break a bone and
you're in like Flynn!

How about a totally dislocated elbow resulting in loss of circulation to
associated hand as well as nerve damage ? Got a scenic ride in the
ambulance to the nearby hospital ER. Ran into a somewhat invisible
(given the lighting conditions and my sunglasses) wooden barrier across
a multiuse trail........which has since been removed at my behest to
parks department. The laws of physics say that a body in motion (that
would be me) tends to stay in motion, and I did :-(

4 weeks with arm in a splint, and then 6 weeks of physical therapy two
mornings a week.

But I was back riding my bike 57 days after it happened :-)

Nearly a year later, that arm is fully 100% functional [full range of
motion, thank goodness) but still feels "funny" sometimes in the
fingertips. My doctor called this "neuropraxia" (IIRC) and said that is
not unusual in this sort of trauma.....sometimes it can take many months
to clear up. But it is getting infitesimally better, albeit slowly.

Only damage to bicycle was a bent front brake where it hit the wooden
crossbar. Obviously I fared a bit worse, but no broken skin/broken
bones/bleeding/other injuries. So I'm not sure it would count...... (I
was riding my Trek 7200 hybrid)

First question everyone would ask (paramedics, doctor at hospital, my
wife, numerous relatives and coworkers, etc.) was "were you wearing a
helmet?". To which I always replied, "yes, but it should have been on
my arm ---- not my head !"

Justa Lurker said:

First question everyone would ask (paramedics, doctor at hospital, my
wife, numerous relatives and coworkers, etc.) was "were you wearing a
helmet?". To which I always replied, "yes, but it should have been on
my arm ---- not my head !"

Did you sue the parks&rec dept? You should now if the statute limit hasn't
expired. You've got a great case esp. since they removed the barrier -
though I'm not a lawyer. ;-)

jj

jj said:

Justa Lurker said:

First question everyone would ask (paramedics, doctor at hospital, my
wife, numerous relatives and coworkers, etc.) was "were you wearing a
helmet?". To which I always replied, "yes, but it should have been on
my arm ---- not my head !"

Did you sue the parks&rec dept? You should now if the statute limit hasn't
expired. You've got a great case esp. since they removed the barrier -
though I'm not a lawyer. ;-)

No, I didn't sue them although I did get a form to fill out a couple of
months later from my medical insurer asking all sorts of questions &
details about what happened. Clearly the intent (in fact, I think it
said as much on the document) was for them to try and recover as much as
possible against the claim. I never heard anything further (yet,
anyhow) but it wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't a big part of the
reason that the barrier was removed after the gov't. agency heard from
the insurance company lawyers.

To clarify just a bit, the barrier was there to block motor vehicles
from getting on the trail....not to keep out other users such as
runners, bicyclists, inline skaters, horses & their riders, etc. The
trail itself was open & in operation. One was supposed to (and in fact,
I had many times before on previous visits) simply go around either end
and continue on.

Just for the sake of discussion, isn't there typically something in the
trail's rules & regulations [posted at various points along the way]
about using it at one's own risk ? I'm not 100% sure in this case ----
I can take a look at the fine print on one of the signs next time I ride
there, or perhaps there's a handout I can pickup at the Visitor's
Center. In any case, would this have any relevance in court especially
when the parks dept. has allegedly created a hazardous condition as a
result of some aspect of its design/layout ?

Since I had gotten interested in this topic [and being an engineer], I
did some research looking for formal "standards" pertaining to design
and construction of public multi-use trails....in particular, barriers
etc. Never had any luck finding anything, although I can't believe such
a thing doesn't exist. Probably just looked in the wrong places.
Anyone have any pointers ?

jj said:

Did you sue the parks&rec dept?

How American.

He said he there was poor lighting and he was wearing sunglasses. I'd
think he'd just accept the responsibility.

Rich said:

jj said:

Did you sue the parks&rec dept?

How American.

He said he there was poor lighting and he was wearing sunglasses. I'd
think he'd just accept the responsibility.

Well, I **am** an American (a native American, in fact, having been born
in Erie PA :-), and what you wrote is pretty much exactly what I was
thinking & why I never even thought of calling a lawyer about this.

I was raised to be responsible for my own actions & their
consequences.....yes, the barrier was a poor design IMHO but nonetheless
I'm still responsible for the operation of my bicycle. It was a nice
sunny day, and sunglasses were entirely proper....but I should've taken
them off when I was cycling in the wooded area.

That said, to each his own......others obviously take a different view
of things and I respect their approach.

The important thing is that the barrier has since been removed to reduce
the chances of others suffering the same fate.

Rich said:

jj said:

Did you sue the parks&rec dept?

How American.

He said he there was poor lighting and he was wearing sunglasses. I'd
think he'd just accept the responsibility.

I couldn't agree more - the OP seems like a level-headed, take
personal responsibility kinda person. If you'd ridden past a barier
many times, and then decided to run into it on the Nth time, it's
kinda hard to blame the barrier, IMHO.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame