As the survivor of a serious bicycle accident where I
escaped with minor injuries just barely; I can attest to the violent forces
that can accompany a bike accident involving motor vehicles. I was among the fortunate, to this day, to have escaped a crippling injury or
death; but felt the pain and violence that could be brought on by motor
vehicles on the human body. In a hot May
day of 2000, while on security bicycle patrol,
I was eager to go buy lunch across
the street from the shopping plaza I patrolled.
I considered myself knowledgeable on crossing busy roads (simple, wait until there is no cars coming
nearby). But just before I got off my
bicycle to cross the road (stopping
at the edge of the road, on the curve)
a vehicle had lost control (apparently) and swerved into the curve (toward me)
and the vehicle hit my bicycle and me.
The vehicle crashed into me while screeching tires and as I screamed “Oh
shit!”, and impacted my front wheel hurling me forward toward the windshield
head first. I was not wearing a helmet,
and hit the windshield apparently with my upper right cranium. I don’t remember the split seconds after the
initial impact, but recall regaining consciousness
within seconds after impact; I was sitting down a few meters from the crash
site and attempting to get up. I recall
a lady, a supermarket employee, came to aid me and warned me of
what had just happened as I was not aware.
She told me to seat back down, that I was bleeding badly, and told me I
had been hurled into the air by the impact of the car. I was within minutes picked up by rescue workers and taken to the hospital to treat
the minor injuries that could have well been fatal.
Motor vehicles could weight from two to five
tons (2000-10000 Lbs.) and be moving at over 30 mph at the moment of impact
with cyclists. So, the forces involved
in the impact of a 2-ton vehicle at 30 mph could be over 6000 lbs. of
force. (13.4 m/s * 2000 Kg = 26800 N),
that’s like putting the weight of a midsize car on the impact area of your
body, or accelerating your body from 0-30mph in a split second by a force of
6000 lbs. That could hurt, and this is
being conservative. Road speeds in a
busy street can often average 45mph and exceed 60mph. A study found that bicycle-car crashes at
speeds exceeding only 20mph are associated with the largest percentage of
deaths for cyclists (Kim, 2007). The
human body can be violently accelerated in the opposite direction of travel as
the impacting vehicle or object; and cause serious damage to those body parts
that tend to be accelerated slower than the rest (such as your head, and the
larger and internal organs like the brain, liver, lungs, etc.
When oppositely traveling bodies collide,
their acceleration in the opposite path of travel is added, thus obviously the
damage is greater. So, hitting a stationary object is not as
damaging as hitting an object of the same mass that is traveling in your
opposite direction. And, hitting an
object traveling in the same direction as you is even less damaging. So, it is smart to stay well away from
opposite traveling traffic. You should
try to avoid traffic all together,
but if necessary stay on the right
lane in the U.S. (with the traffic).
The body responds to bicycle crashes depending
to a variety of factors like speed and direction of travel of rider and
impactor, mass of impactor, mass of the body of the rider, contact surface area
of the impactor and rider, energy absorption qualities of the impactor and
rider, etc. Injuries depend on a
repertoire of factors from fitness and age of rider, to temperature
conditions. But most serious injuries
and deaths are sustained by older riders, and younger riders; not only due to their body
composition but due to their riding behaviors too.
The psychological response to a bike accident
can be traumatic for survivors. I know
first hand of this feeling as
after my bicycle accident; I
felt extremely fragile and afraid of even riding in a vehicle. I felt this way the accident night I was
released from the hospital after finding out I was not seriously injured and
after being treated. I recall thinking
every other car was too fast on the road, and that it was extremely risky and
dangerous to even be out driving in a vehicle.
This feeling lasted for weeks and slowly faded; but not completely. Today I drive slightly slower than the
average person my age, and I am much more careful with anything dealing with
motor vehicles. I know the traumatic
effects of a crash can be deep and long lasting in some individuals; yet short
lived or even non existent in others.
The factors involved in the psychological effects of accidents are many
and complicated, and require a comprehensive work to
describe. But, this trauma should, at
the very least, be a small incentive to attempt
to prevent such accidents.
But, of course, the suffering and possible death or injury: are the
primary reasons to avoid accidents.
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