Why Bother with Bicycle Wrecks

For close to 35 years I have spent my Professional Engineering career determining what causes bicycle accidents. Why bother you would ask? The primary reason I have devoted so much of my career to this issue is simple. The Engineering reasons for these type of accidents can then be used to make cycling safer for everyone. When I can determine that some roadway design contributes to an accident I can then get that information out to the Engineering Design community. If I determine that some type of product defect is the reason the accident has occurred than I can get that information to other engineers or industry personel.

Through the years major adjustments have been made from this work. Point of Sale instructions in the bicycle retail industry has been initiated for Independent Bicycle Dealers (IBD). While most "big box" retailers have ignored the industry standards that the IBD's have put in place it is my hope that eventually they will also initiate these necessary standards.

I have been involved in many controversial cases and projects through the years. I hope to use this forum to comment on some of these and would invite readers to add their comments as well. I will begin with my next posting on an analysis of the Johnson Vs Derby Case that was tried in 1993.