More Than 12,000 Bicycles Recalled Due to fall Risks

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a number of bicycle-related recalls recently. California bicycle accident lawyers recommend that bicyclists keep themselves updated on the latest recalls of bicycles and bicycle components announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in order to reduce the risk of being involved in an accident.

In the latest recall, as many as 12,200 bicycles are being recalled, because of the potential defect that can cause the steerer tube in the front fork to break. This can pose a potential fall accident hazard to the bicyclist.

The bicycles were imported into the United States by Specialized Bicycle Components Inc., a company that is based in Morgan Hill, California. The bicycles were manufactured in Taiwan. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, these bicycles have been involved in at least 2 accidents. In at least one of these incidents, the bicyclist fell off the bicycle, suffering facial injuries, and lacerations.

The bicycles included in the recall are the 2012 and 2013 model bicycles and frame sets which come in a number of colors. The bicycles were sold at Specialized retailers.

If you own any of the bicycles that are included in this recall, the Consumer Product Safety Commission advises you to stop using the bicycles immediately. There is a serious risk of a fall accident that could even result in serious injuries.
Take the bicycle to a local Specialized Bicycle Components dealer for an inspection of the bicycle. The dealer will conduct a free repair of the bicycle.

Every year, the federal agency recalls thousands of bicycles for defective brakes, tires, gear shifts and pedals. Defects in any of these components can seriously increase a bicyclist’s injury risk.

Colorado Supreme Court Overturns Black Hawk Ban

Bicyclists in Colorado won a major victory recently, when the state Supreme Court ruled in their favor, overturning a ban on bicycles in the city of Black Hawk. In 2009, Black Hawk became the first American city to ban bicycles from almost every city street. The City began enforcing the law in 2010, and three bicyclists were ticketed for bicycling.

The bicyclists appealed the ticket, and the case went all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court.

Lawyers for the bicyclists told the court that the Black Hawk ban conflicted with state law, and that state law needed to take precedent over the local law because the regulation affected nonlocal residents badly. Under Colorado law, municipalities cannot enact bans against bicycling unless there is an alternate route within 450 feet.

For bicyclists in Black Hawk, who had been gravely dismayed at the actions of local city officials, this has been a major victory. Many bicycle organizations in Colorado had worked diligently to overturn the ban, and their efforts have now been successful.

Unfortunately, California bicycle accident lawyers see that Black Hawk’s action in enacting a ban like this is part of a national trend that reflects growing hostility towards bicyclists. Many motorists, and in fact, many cities in the United States unfortunately, continue to regard bicyclists as “the other.”

It’s time for cities to understand that more bicyclists are joining the biking population of the country, and it’s important to take their rights into consideration. In other words, bicyclists have as much right to be using the street as motorcyclists and motorists, and their rights must be respected.

Dutch Company Introduces Bicyclist Airbags

A company in the Netherlands has come up with an exterior airbag design that absorbs impact when a bicyclist hits the car and lands on the windshield of the car, thus helping prevent serious injuries to the bicyclist.

It’s no surprise to California bicycle accident lawyers that this innovation comes from the Netherlands, which has always been at the forefront of innovative new bicycle safety strategies. The Netherlands has a heavy bicycling population, and an estimated 1.2 bicycle for every resident of the country. The country has a strong bicycle safety culture, and boasts a vast awareness of bicyclist rights.

A Dutch car company has now launched what it calls external airbags for more automobiles. The airbag system detects when the automobile is about to collide with the bicyclist, and launches the airbags. The airbags inflate on the outside of the automobile, protecting the bicyclist from potentially serious or fatal injury.

The airbags are located under the hood of the car, and inflate when there is a potential collision scenario. The airbags are not the solution to every bicyclist’s nightmare, but bicyclists are likely to wish that every automobile came with these inflatable airbags.

The airbags are not likely to prevent the kind of injuries that occur when a car door is opened right in the path of a bicyclist. Such accidents, involving bicyclists running into open car doors, injure thousands of bicyclists in the United States every month. The airbags would not prevent such accidents.

It’s easy to believe that a feature like this would find many takers in the Netherlands, where motorists are highly respectful of bicyclist rights. However, how popular a feature like this will become in the United States, where bicycle safety awareness isn’t as strong, is anyone’s guess.