Rider Safety - The Solutions?

[Anonymous]

First proposal for the ASO.

Cars (including press cars, team cars etc) should ONLY Be allowed to pass on the right hand (drivers side) of riders.

Number of cars, motorbikes in the tour clearly needs to be reduced (they are already planning to reduce the number of motos)

For the UCI

Helmets need to be seriously looked at. We seem to be seeing an increase in head and facial injuries. Whats changed in helmet design?

 

[mewmewmew13]

Thanks for starting this Dim.
After today's carnage it seems this is now bordering on absurd.

Who else is tired of watching these poor riders suffer and be injured?
WAY too many vehicles crammed into the race and what is up with the idiocy of the drivers?? Are they multi-tasking?? probably.

Something has to change and this seriously needs to happen. I don't know much if nothing about the number and necessity of all the vehicle traffic in the mix but the riders have no chance against a metal obstacle.

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

How about the peloton exercise a little discipline and begin making sure that members who engage in risky behavior know how the rest of the group feels? The biggest race now looks like a bunch of noobs riding together without an experienced respected rider laying down the law.

Helmets need to be seriously looked at. We seem to be seeing an increase in head and facial injuries. Whats changed in helmet design?

The head of a rider track standing while going ZERO miles per hour will fall from a height of about two meters. That will result in a speed at impact within the design criteria of a helmet, namely under 12 kilometers per hour. That is the amount of energy a helmet has to absorb to pass tests. Impact energy does not go up linearly. So a crash at 24 km/h with a helmet is not equal to 12 km/h without a helmet. In fact crashing at 50 km/h with a helmet will result in the same amount of energy being transferred to your head as crashing at 45 km/h without a helmet. What this should tell you is that bicycle helmets are not all that effective at real cycling speeds.

 

[hrotha]

Cars (including press cars, team cars etc) should ONLY Be allowed to pass on the right hand (drivers side) of riders.

Not sure how feasible that is. Outside of Britain, everyone's too used to riding on the right and passing on the left. It would take some time to readjust, and that by itself would be dangerous.

 

[bhilden]

Having covered the Tour de France for 20+ years and driven many, many miles in the race I can tell you that what happened today with the TV car knocking down the riders is not normal. Thank heavens.

There is a very strict order for cars in the peloton based on the color of your credential. The only cars allowed that close to the peloton are race officials, team cars,and service.

Unfortuately, Antenne 2/3 because they are the official TV broadcaster of the Tour have a bit of leeway where they can be, but the Antenne 2/3 car which knocked down the riders today should not have been there.

My guess is that that particular car was actually in front of the race, but pulled over for some reason. Because the gap between the breakway and the peloton was so big, the car was able to get back on course in the wrong postition.

Every auto credential has a number and where you are and where you are supposed to be during the race is closely monitored by race officials and the gendarmes. If you are in the wrong place, you will be ordered to pull over and wait until it is appropriate for you to be back on course.

I think the rules are OK. This was just the case of a car driver being in the wrong place and somehow being allowed back on course.

 

[Michele]

Not sure how feasible that is. Outside of Britain, everyone's too used to riding on the right and passing on the left. It would take some time to readjust, and that by itself would be dangerous.

Agree.xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Fus087]

Having covered the Tour de France for 20+ years and driven many, many miles in the race I can tell you that what happened today with the TV car knocking down the riders is not normal. Thank heavens.

There is a very strict order for cars in the peloton based on the color of your credential. The only cars allowed that close to the peloton are race officials, team cars,and service.

Unfortuately, Antenne 2/3 because they are the official TV broadcaster of the Tour have a bit of leeway where they can be, but the Antenne 2/3 car which knocked down the riders today should not have been there.

My guess is that that particular car was actually in front of the race, but pulled over for some reason. Because the gap between the breakway and the peloton was so big, the car was able to get back on course in the wrong postition.

Every auto credential has a number and where you are and where you are supposed to be during the race is closely monitored by race officials and the gendarmes. If you are in the wrong place, you will be ordered to pull over and wait until it is appropriate for you to be back on course.

I think the rules are OK. This was just the case of a car driver being in the wrong place and somehow being allowed back on course.

Thanks for this very good insight.
What would the correct course of action have been? Wait until the peloton has passed, take a detour and slot in infront of the break again?

 

[Winterfold]

Having a short time trial of between 5-10km prior to stage 1 to provide gaps between the riders.

 

[Cobblestones]

Having covered the Tour de France for 20+ years and driven many, many miles in the race I can tell you that what happened today with the TV car knocking down the riders is not normal. Thank heavens.

There is a very strict order for cars in the peloton based on the color of your credential. The only cars allowed that close to the peloton are race officials, team cars,and service.

Unfortuately, Antenne 2/3 because they are the official TV broadcaster of the Tour have a bit of leeway where they can be, but the Antenne 2/3 car which knocked down the riders today should not have been there.

My guess is that that particular car was actually in front of the race, but pulled over for some reason. Because the gap between the breakway and the peloton was so big, the car was able to get back on course in the wrong postition.

Every auto credential has a number and where you are and where you are supposed to be during the race is closely monitored by race officials and the gendarmes. If you are in the wrong place, you will be ordered to pull over and wait until it is appropriate for you to be back on course.

I think the rules are OK. This was just the case of a car driver being in the wrong place and somehow being allowed back on course.

I've been involved in workplace safety a bit, and most accidents don't happen because of a lack of rules, but because of a violation of rules.

It's mostly a question of safety culture and training. When accidents like today or the moto accident pile up, it points to a lack of training or lax safety culture.

A quick fix would be to fire a few (all the way from the bottom to the top of the chain of command), then have the rest of them take safety training lessons from when the race ends to 11 p.m. for a week. Every safety violation from now on should be followed up by immediate termination. You need to instill discipline fast.

 

[Ragerod]

Some brilliant insight here. As I mentioned in another thread helmets need to be looked at. I don't think it's acceptable that any part of a rider from the chin up makes contact with the ground. Helmets may look stupid but if Vino had gone into that tree (I assume it's a tree) head first there may have been bigger problems.

I also think there's a case for using smaller cars when the road is only one car wide. It would cause some logistical problems but none that can't be overcome.

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

Here is an idea. Ban full carbon rims for mass start races. Not only are the deep profiles more susceptible to wind, but the braking performance sucks, especially in the wet.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

From what I got both this accident and the one with the motor earlier were caused by drivers not following orders from the jury. This car got told to let the Europecar car pass him, but instead did what it did. No amount of rules is going to help here. So I would start by kicking out all drivers that disobey orders from the jury, even if they didn't cause any danger. After a few bans the rest will get the message and maybe finally start behaving again.

 

[Dead Star]

Millar's interview with ITV4 straight after the stage was insightful. Again bemoaning the lack of respect and etiquette in the peloton and suggesting riders are all at an equal level, so more of them riding hard to get to the front etc.

 

[just some guy]

Have you seen how many riders do not have the chin straps done up.

Riders bring a lot of the problems on themselves that is the 1st major issue.

 

[rides like a girl]

Have you seen how many riders do not have the chin straps done up.

Riders bring a lot of the problems on themselves that is the 1st major issue.

I noticed that yesterday and today. I think it was Linus Gerdemann of Leopard Trek that I noticed yesterday with a very loose chin strap. With all the crashes, you don't have a tight chin strap for your helmet?

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I admit very little familiarity with the rules and regulations that govern where cars can and should be during a race. I know only how the location of team cars are determined, so it's difficult to offer any suggestions as to improve rider saftey, but I have to ask about the penalties these drivers face. I've heard people mention fines and banning drivers, but that doesn't seem to deter these drivers from taking risks at the riders expense. Is it possible for these drivers to serve some sort of jail sentence for negligence? Maybe the solution is harsher penalties for unsafe drivers.

 

[Race Radio]

As Bruce wrote movement of cars is highly regulated. Even the France TV car that hit riders today needed permission to pass the break. While it was a bad incident and it would be a good idea to reduce the number of cars in the enclosure it is still rare

It is easy to blame crashes on course, crowds, etc but hard to ignore that modern GC riders race a fraction of past champions. More racing=better bike racer it is that simple. It is also hard to ignore that modern GC contenders are obsessed with w/kg (understandable). Non weight bearing exercise, sweating leaching calcium, plus calorie deficit leads to a perfect storm of bone fractures. Small crashes now result in multiple fractures

 

[hfer07]

Cars (including press cars, team cars etc) should ONLY Be allowed to pass on the right hand (drivers side) of riders.

difficult to execute since a rider can break away from either side of the road and the car can become an obstacle-but could be studied nonetheless-the simplest way I find is to knock the horn and let the riders know "in advance" that a vehicle is approaching and will pass through-that's all

Number of cars, motorbikes in the tour clearly needs to be reduced (they are already planning to reduce the number of motos)

+1 check

For the UCI
Helmets need to be seriously looked at. We seem to be seeing an increase in head and facial injuries. Whats changed in helmet design?

+10000 check
the problem here is the Helmet companies being in compliance to the UCI rules-whose standards are very poor the least-and this is a mayor issue already detected at least 10 years ago..

 

[peacefultribe]

Here is an idea. Ban full carbon rims for mass start races. Not only are the deep profiles more susceptible to wind, but the braking performance sucks, especially in the wet.

True on both counts.

 

[therhodeo]

True on both counts.

Granted the wind gets bad here in Oklahoma but my little 30mm rims catch enough wind in crosswind situations to make riding very close pretty sketchy.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

First proposal for the ASO.

Cars (including press cars, team cars etc) should ONLY Be allowed to pass on the right hand (drivers side) of riders.

Number of cars, motorbikes in the tour clearly needs to be reduced (they are already planning to reduce the number of motos)

As has been pointed out there are already rules for how cars drive or overtake the riders.
While there is clearly a need to take non-essential traffic out of the race the incident today was clearly a stupid error on behalf of the driver.

For the UCI

Helmets need to be seriously looked at. We seem to be seeing an increase in head and facial injuries. Whats changed in helmet design?

Are we? I think there has been an increasing number of incidents (crashes) over the years but the helmets appear to be doing a great job. Imagine if Horner or Boonen had not been wearing a helmet?

As for solutions - the problem appears to be more riders arriving at the Tour like it is the only race, in good form and trying to keep to the front, it is like early season races where there is no set hieracy.
Add to this increasing road furniture and what was ok for 200 riders 20 years ago is no longer acceptable.
The only possible solution is to decrease the numbers participating, by decreasing the size of the teams.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

Even the France TV car that hit riders today needed permission to pass the break.

As far as I know though, it didn't have that permission. There was a short interview shown on NOS (Dutch tv) with Prudhomme. During it he said the car had orders to fall back.

 

[Jamsque]

Making reactionary rule changes helps no-one. There have been a lot of bad crashes at this Tour, yes, but there are bad crashes every year. Random chance dictates that every now and then there will be a Tour de France with a large number of crashes involving major GC contenders.

We can't wrap riders in cotton wool. The sport today is the safest it has ever been, and freak accidents do not change that. This has been a nasty tour, but it's no-one's fault.

The only thing I think we can learn is that the race organisers need to control the flow of vehicles around the peloton better to ensure the chances of collisions between race vehicles and riders are minimised. That's it.

 

[Bala Verde]

As far as I know though, it didn't have that permission. There was a short interview shown on NOS (Dutch tv) with Prudhomme. During it he said the car had orders to fall back.

video here in french and dutch subtitling.

http://nos.nl/artikel/255118-prudhomme-dit-is-een-schandaal.html

In addition, a couple of days ago there was a Belgian cycling photographer who had been in the TdF for 2 decades I believe, on the back of a motor. He said during a dutch sports talk show, obviously in response to questions about the Sorensen accident, that there have been 16 motards with photographers in course for many many years. He also said that if such a thing happens, it is 'always' the photographers fault. In this case he said that they shouldn't have passed the peloton - underestimating the opening alongside the peloton - and they got stuck. It's especially difficult to gauge the width of an opening on a long stretch, because it can close any time.

The culprits in the Flecha/Hoogerland incident have been removed from the course and Prudhomme is likely to announce measures during/after the rest day.

He called it scandalous that the driver ignored his request to hold back, and move over to let a team car approach Voeckler who had asked for a bottle.

 

[davestoller]

Having covered the Tour de France for 20+ years and driven many, many miles in the race I can tell you that what happened today with the TV car knocking down the riders is not normal. Thank heavens.

There is a very strict order for cars in the peloton based on the color of your credential. The only cars allowed that close to the peloton are race officials, team cars,and service.

Unfortuately, Antenne 2/3 because they are the official TV broadcaster of the Tour have a bit of leeway where they can be, but the Antenne 2/3 car which knocked down the riders today should not have been there.

My guess is that that particular car was actually in front of the race, but pulled over for some reason. Because the gap between the breakway and the peloton was so big, the car was able to get back on course in the wrong postition.

Every auto credential has a number and where you are and where you are supposed to be during the race is closely monitored by race officials and the gendarmes. If you are in the wrong place, you will be ordered to pull over and wait until it is appropriate for you to be back on course.

I think the rules are OK. This was just the case of a car driver being in the wrong place and somehow being allowed back on course.

The rider was under diect instructions for the race director to pull over to the side and let Voeckler's team car ride up to him to bring a bottle. It is reported that this was the SECOND direct order the driver ignored.

Since we know these VIP cars haul around bigshots and much alcohol is involved, the driver should have been pulled over, breathalyzed, and arrested. I know it is a felony in France to pass a cyclist within one metre. While this is a race and those rules don't apply, it still indicates the seriousness with which France takes rider safety.

The fact that it occurred in a race doesnt change anything. If it happened on the road in the U.S., the driver would be charges with vehicular assault. Absolutely criminal.