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Prediction: First uni-caused death

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01 / Original postPrediction: First uni-caused deathDavid_Stone · 15 Nov 2007 02 / This pagePosts 1–20Page 1 of 4 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #69Wheel Rider · 19 Nov 2007

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15 November 2007
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  1. Original post
    David_Stone
    Archived post
    #1

    Chatting with the wife this evening, I mentioned how I'm going to start
    saving up to attend the funeral of the first person to die from a
    unicycle accident.

    I'd just finished reading about some of the geared-up Cokers and 36"
    Nimbuses. I've been saying for years that with all the super-fast (ie:
    faster-than-you-can-sprint) riding going on these days, someone's bound
    to get into trouble. It's similar to the muni and trials stuff going
    on: We're pushing our luck. But I have a hunch it's the geared unis
    that could bring about an actual death. Here's my reasoning:

    1. No trials or muni deaths thus far. Seems like the worst that can
    happen is a bad bruise or a bone-break. We might see some paralysis
    down the line, but a death would take a conflagration of really bad
    luck. Let's hope it never happens. Same for the paralysis.
    2. Some of the people riding gunis don't have as much experience or
    leg-strength as they 'should.' These factors could turn a UPD from bad
    to wake.
    3. People, evolutionarily speaking, were made to withstand falls out of
    branches and other heights, like a bad muni or trials fall. But our
    ancestors didn't typically fall while moving 25mph on asphalt. That
    kind of fall, coupled with some other bad luck (hitting ones head on a
    curb, for ex) could be fatal.

    Not to sound more morose than usual, but here's my prediction:

    First uni-caused death...
    Uni: Geared 36"
    Road conditions: Pavement
    Cause of death: Head trauma
    Country: US
    Casket: Open
    Buried with unicycle: No

    Wherever it is, I'll be there for the funeral.

    Then again, I could be hit by a bus tomorrow, as I'm always saying.

    Ride safely (but start saving now)....

    --
    David_Stone

    Dictator for Life,
    NYUC

    Check out my blog (or else):
    http://newyorkunicycle.blogspot.com/
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  2. Unibugg
    Archived post
    #2

    My next uni is.. no was... no is....

    hmmm

    going to be a coker.

    But I'm seriously going to bed now. :eek:

    --
    Unibugg

    Into the blue said:

    You should see this fella ride up kerbs. He makes it look annoyingly
    easy.
    Ants make me UPD.


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  3. Unibugg
    Archived post
    #3

    My next uni is.. no was... no is....

    hmmm

    going to be a coker.

    But I'm seriously going to bed now. :eek:

    --
    Unibugg

    Into the blue said:

    You should see this fella ride up kerbs. He makes it look annoyingly
    easy.
    Ants make me UPD.


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  4. skilewis74
    Archived post
    #4

    My prediction is someone riding anything w/o a helmet, but esp. trials
    and street. * W a y * too much of that going on IMO.

    All it takes is one hit, it doesn't even have to be a big one and you
    are a vegetable or
    x
    ...(
    x

    --
    skilewis74

    Ride everywhere and never just ride anywhere. If you can ride where you
    are going within a hour, do it, and if you can do a trick 50-75% of the
    time do it along the way.
    Parafrasing a pro skater when asked for advise to kids who wanted to
    get much better and maybee turn pro one day.
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  5. David_Stone
    Archived post
    #5
    skilewis74 said:

    My prediction is someone riding anything w/o a helmet, but esp. trials
    and street. * W a y * too much of that going on IMO.

    Ugh. You are so right. However, the dudes and dudettes doing trials and
    street are generally the rubbery younguns who don't seem to break as
    easily as we fogeys do. They break their falls (but not usually their
    skulls). Happily, many of the people riding really fast are wearing
    helmets. So I take it that your money is on street or trials. I hope we
    are all wrong.

    --
    David_Stone

    Dictator for Life,
    NYUC

    Check out my blog (or else):
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  6. tholub
    Archived post
    #6

    When it comes right down to it, geared unicycles really don't move very
    fast. People have been crashing while going way faster on bicycles for
    over 100 years, and bike fatalities are extremely rare.

    Whatever it turns out to be, it will be a freak accident.

    --
    tholub
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  7. harper
    Archived post
    #7
    David_Stone said:


    Not to sound more morose than usual, but here's my prediction:

    First uni-caused death...
    Uni: Geared 36"
    Road conditions: Pavement
    Cause of death: Head trauma
    Country: US
    Casket: Open
    Buried with unicycle: No

    You're weird. I think the first unicycle related death will be from
    someone huffing their uni.

    --
    harper

    -Greg Harper

    *jc is the only main man. there can be no other.*
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  8. boo radley
    Archived post
    #8

    Does it count if somebody is feeling down and purposely rides off a
    cliff or tall building?

    --
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  9. CoreTechs
    Archived post
    #9
    boo radley said:

    Does it count if somebody is feeling down and purposely rides off a
    cliff or tall building?

    Maybe a sad clown... All you see at the bottom is a busted uni and a
    bunch of colors.

    --
    CoreTechs

    Quoted message said:

    <> UNICYCLE FOR CHRIST<><

    And get 'LOST' (www.lost.eu/69d9c).
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  10. UniBrier
    Archived post
    #10

    My bets would be on:

    1. Road accident involving a motor vehicle. Possibly high speed GUni
    UPD in traffic.

    2. Falling from height on extreme Trials or MUni.

    --
    UniBrier

    Steve

    Hop Drop & Roll

    “If something is to hard to do, then it's not worth doing. You just
    stick that guitar in the closet next to your
    shortwave radio, your karate outfit and your unicycle and we'll go
    inside and watch TV.” – Homer
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  11. Danni
    Archived post
    #11

    I think that the first unicycle death will be caused by being hit by a
    vehicle.

    --
    Danni

    leo said:

    Without cocks you wouldn't even have a family forum.

    'My Trials Course'
    (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64079)
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  12. john_childs
    Archived post
    #12

    If you're playing odds, a traffic collision with a 4 horseless carriage
    is more likely to cause the first unicycling fatality. A fatal
    accident due to a single unicycle UPD is not as likely, even if riding
    a geared up Coker. You crash more gracefully on a unicycle than a bike
    (bikes have the handlebars and frame to get tangled in). 30+ mph
    accidents happen on road bikes and the riders typically just end up
    with abrasions and possibly broken bones (collar bone most likely).

    So put your money on some sort of accident involving a car (or truck).
    Either a rider caused UPD where you slide into traffic, a collision
    where the car hits you, or possibly a dooring that knocks you into
    traffic and turns you into a speed bump.

    The geared Cokers are just going to result in more road rash injuries,
    broken collar bones, and broken wrists.

    --
    john_childs

    john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com
    Team Never Wash Your Muni
    'My Gallery' (http://tinyurl.com/3d57bn) :: 'Unicycling Bookmark List'
    (http://backcountry.unicyclist.com/) :: 'World Clock'
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  13. skrobo
    Archived post
    #13

    i thought someone broke their neck and died from playing w/ a uni on a
    trampoline....

    anyways, i guess that was joke, but i say jumping over something
    big(like a car) without a helmet
    or grinding... and somehow catching the pole just right.... there are
    many situations....

    --
    skrobo

    Quoted message said:

    <> Unicycle For Christ <><


    'YOUneedtoTUBE MYTUBE' (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=skroboskim)
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  14. wobbling bear
    Archived post
    #14

    sadly as far as I remember such an accident already happened last year
    (was it in England?)
    the guy didn' hear a tractor coming across the corner ...
    so don't wear loudspeakers.

    I am frightened like mad by traffic, last year I falled in front of a
    car.

    I don't approve of extreme trial competition. trial is fun but making
    it dangerous is tempting fate.

    --
    wobbling bear

    One Wheel : bear necessity
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  15. PKHodgie
    Archived post
    #15

    yeah i heard about the tractor incident but was never sure if it was
    really true. I think the next or first unicycle death wll be someone
    riding extreme muni and riding off the edge of the cliff by accident.

    --
    PKHodgie
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  16. GizmoDuck
    Archived post
    #16
    john_childs said:

    You crash more gracefully on a unicycle than a bike (bikes have the
    handlebars and frame to get tangled in).

    I think the reverse is the case. You have handlebars to take some of
    the impact. You also generally have a more stretched out position and
    a front wheel to take a frontal impact. Most falls are to the side and
    these end up with skin loss mainly. Going over the bars usually
    results in a broken clavicle or two.

    On a unicycle crashing at over 30km/hr you have very little protection.

    Of course bikes go faster and as a result has the potential to cause
    greater injury. But at the same speed, I think a unicycle causes far
    worse injuries.

    --
    GizmoDuck

    The Uninam Tour 2008.....Hanoi to Saigon!!! www.uninam.net

    The Monguni 2009....Unicycle Tour of Mongolia

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  17. semach.the.monkey
    Archived post
    #17

    I think your prediction could sadly be right, but for the wrong reasons.
    As others have said, just coming off at geared 36 speed will hurt, a
    lot, and possibly leave complications for the rest of your life, but it
    won't kill you. Sure, if you hit your head the wrong way it could, but
    that would take a lot of bad luck, and could happen just as easily from
    any other fall.

    I think that traffic would be the biggest factor in ending a
    unicyclists life. All it needs is for a driver not to be paying full
    attention when a UPD is occurring, and that could be it. I've been
    riding many miles each week in Central London for over 2 years now, and
    have had 3 UPDs where I met tarmac. In each of those cases the road
    was clear behind me, but, honestly, that was down to sheer luck. I've
    covered literally hundreds of miles with double decker busses only a
    few inches from me, and any one of them could have been driven by the
    Grim Reaper. I've seen dozens of cars jump red lights, although I have
    (safely) jumped more. I have lost count of the amount of taxis that
    have swerved in to cycle lanes or pulled out with no warning.

    The streets are a -potentially -fatal place for unicyclist. So far
    this is still only a potential though. The streets *have *been proved
    to be fatal for drivers, bike riders, pedestrians and motorcyclists
    already, but the longer we can hold off of adding a unicyclist to that
    list the better.

    Oh, and the guy killed by a tractor whilst listening to his iPod -was
    -a unicyclist, but he was riding a bike at the time.

    STM

    --
    semach.the.monkey
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  18. rob.northcott
    Archived post
    #18

    I don't agree with Ken, although being a medical type he may have
    reasons for what he said. But anyway, I'd MUCH rather fall off a
    unicycle at 16 mph than a bike, even at the same speed. I don't know
    about higher speeds because I don't ride faster than that on a
    unicycle. Certainly on a bike you tend to fall sideways and skid
    along, but I've hit the side of my head hard enough on the ground on
    two occasions (both at relatively low speeds) to knock me unconscious,
    once for 20 minutes. On a unicycle, when I've fallen off going too
    fast to run (or have tripped after a UPD) I've fallen hard on my arms
    then skidded along like in a bike crash, so I suppose there might be
    more chance of arm/wrist/collarbone damage in a unicycle crash.

    Anyway, back on topic, I'd say there was just as much chance of being
    involved in a fatal accident on a unicycle in traffic as there is on a
    bike. The reason it hasn't happened yet (if indeed it hasn't) is just
    down to probability, with the extremely low unicycle use compared with
    bikes. It's possibly a bit less likely to be hit on a unicycle because
    the "oddness" of it makes people take more notice - people usually give
    me far more room when passing me on a unicycle than on a bike - but the
    occasional lorry that passes at 50mph a foot away is VERY scary on the
    coker. All it takes is one impatient [censored] or somebody not paying
    attention to wipe one of us out, just as if we were bicyclists. The
    sad thing about it (apart from the obvious) is that if/when it happens
    there will probably immediately be a campaign to ban unicycles from the
    road.

    On the other hand, I'm absolutely amazed that nobody has been killed in
    stupid stunts like riding along walls of high bridges or balancing on
    precipices to have their picture taken, which seems to go on quite
    regularly.

    Rob

    --
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  19. tholub
    Archived post
    #19
    rob.northcott said:

    On the other hand, I'm absolutely amazed that nobody has been killed in
    stupid stunts like riding along walls of high bridges or balancing on
    precipices to have their picture taken, which seems to go on quite
    regularly.

    Rob

    I think those stunts look dangerous but generally have a very low risk.

    I still think the most dangerous thing most of us do relating to
    unicycles is drive to the trail head.

    --
    tholub
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  20. cathwood
    Archived post
    #20

    I'm going to vote for being killed by a car/bus/lorry too.
    Statistically, I'm sure it's much more likely.

    --
    cathwood

    Cathy
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