Almost newsworthy or a load of bollox?
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Bike block: Officials want to ban quick-release wheels
http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/local/index.ssf?/base/news-4/116132655142200.xml&coll=8
Friday, October 20, 2006
TRENTON - South Jersey legislators want bike makers to move forward with what they say is an inexpensive change that would protect riders from scars, broken bones and other severe injuries.
Legislation whose sponsors include Assembly members Paul Moriarty, D-4 of Washington Township, and David Mayer, D-4 of Gloucester Township, would ban the sale of bicycles for children and adults with "quick-release" front-wheel systems, unless those systems include a safety mechanism preventing the wheel from coming off in use.
The measure was unanimously voted out of the Consumer Affairs Committee on Thursday and would next have to be posted in the full Assembly for a vote. The bill was first released by the committee in March but was amended to encompass adult bikes as well as those manufactured for children.
Mishaps involving quick release wheels may be an issue of human error that the equipment isn't helping to prevent.
"Tragically, this technology has been shown to be quite dangerous in its current form due to the fact that they are difficult to properly attach and reattach," Moriarty said. "They may seem properly hooked on, but all too often bike riders, particularly young ones, have found out the hard way that they're not."
The legislators say quick-release front wheels allow riders to easily remove them by hand when transporting or storing their bicycles, but can mean face-first tumbles without a safety locking device. One Boston-based designer of a fail-safe mechanism for the wheels told committee members it consisted of a few additional nuts and bolts.
Moriarty said he became aware of the issue not through local cases but consumer reports and news stories. According to one such report, the parents of several children sued Wal-Mart over what they said was a faulty quick-release lever on the front wheel of bikes made by Dynacraft. The companies reportedly blamed human error.
A motion for a new trial filed in California earlier this year mentions that the New Jersey Assembly had introduced a bill banning quick-release wheels.
Quick-release wheels have been common on bicycles for 20 to 30 years, according to John Baxter, administrator of the Oregon-based United Bicycle Institute. Bicycle manufacturers typically include a retention mechanism to keep the wheel from completely falling out, Baxter said.
"I'm sure there are some bikes out there that don't have them, but I think typically most mass-market manufacturers include them now," Baxter said. "I don't know whether that law is even necessary at this point."
The legislation makes exceptions for professional-grade racing bicycles.