Skip to main content

Speed Cycling

A South African cyclist suffered a serious crash during a race in his country, due to an antelope’s lack of awareness of road rules. The cyclist was knocked off his bicycle by a Red Hartebeest buck, which charged across the dirt road he was riding along. The cyclist saw the animal spring from the side of the road but there was little he could do to stop. The antelope dazedly stood up following the impact and then bounded away, apparently unhurt. However the cyclist was left sprawled in the grass.
August 10, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A South African cyclist suffered a serious crash during a race in his country, due to an antelope’s lack of awareness of road rules. The cyclist was knocked off his bicycle by a Red Hartebeest buck, which charged across the dirt road he was riding along. The cyclist saw the animal spring from the side of the road but there was little he could do to stop. The antelope dazedly stood up following the impact and then bounded away, apparently unhurt. However the cyclist was left sprawled in the grass. Footage of the incident was captured by another racer. The cyclist was taken to hospital but did not suffer any serious injuries, despite his helmet shattering with the impact and he was discharged the following morning. Meanwhile in the US a number of road cyclists suffered an embarrassing crash, which was also captured on camera. One cyclist lost control on a bend and crashed into metal barriers by the roadside on the route of the race, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The peloton of riders following closely behind also became involved, with another rider hitting the barriers and one falling off as he collided with a barrier that had been thrown into the road. There were no injuries, other than bruised egos.

Related Content

  • Safety trials for FORUM8 cycle simulator
    August 17, 2020
    Research by Morgan State University in the US using linked up driving and cycling simulators could help with safer urban road designs for both drivers and cyclists.
  • Barriers to safety
    April 1, 2021
    All vehicle restraint devices on European roads are – or should be - certified according to the European impact standard EN 1317, implying conformity. But it doesn’t necessarily ensure that the crash barrier will perform its main aim of saving the vehicle occupants’ lives.
  • French road deaths cause for concern
    August 29, 2017
    France has achieved major results in reducing road deaths in the last 10 years but now appears to have hit a barrier with regard to better road safety. The figures for road deaths in July 2017 were better than for 2016. There were 346 fatalities in July 2017 compared with 356 road deaths in July 2016. However there were 5,121 crashes in July 2017, an increase of 41 from July 2016. At the same time there were 7,204 injuries in July 2017, an increase of 226 from July 2016, although serious injuries requiring
  • Horn effect
    February 18, 2013
    An elderly American driver, frustrated at the presence of two cyclists on the road, drove his vehicle behind the pair while continuously sounding his horn. The cyclists rode at the edge of the roadway leaving plenty of room for the man to overtake but instead he crawled along behind the pair for five minutes. Other motorists were forced to overtake and a large queue of vehicles formed behind the man’s SUV. The cyclists had fitted video cameras to their helmets and recorded their encounter, which was then ha