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

  • Myanmar’s growing road safety problem
    May 12, 2017
    Myanmar has a growing road safety problem, an issue becoming apparent as its economy gradually improves. The gain in prosperity in the country has seen a growth in vehicle numbers from 4 million in 2013 to 6 million in 2016. Small capacity motorcycles are becoming particularly popular, as in many of Myanmar’s neighbouring Asian nations. There were 17,834 reported vehicle crashes in Myanmar during 2016, 8,641 of which involved motorcycles. There were 4,887 road deaths in 2016, of which 2,093 were motorcyclis
  • Concrete barriers help to minimise accidents
    July 12, 2012
    Concrete barriers offer a highway safety solution - Mike Woof writes. Concrete safety barriers are being installed on many of Europe's major highways, particularly for use as centre lane dividers. The strength and durability of concrete barriers can help reduce the risk of cross over accidents, one of several topics raised at a conference in Brussels on concrete highway barriers organised by the European Concrete Paving Association, EUPAVE. The conference was opened by Yves Deceoene of the IRF's Belgian ex
  • Florida’s crash record gives cause for concern
    April 20, 2017
    Florida’s road safety record is giving cause for concern. The stretch of US Highway 1 running through Florida has been identified as having the worst road crash record of any highway in the US. Analysis shows that there have been 1,079 fatal crashes in the last 10 years on the road, which runs for 872km through 13 counties in Florida. Other highways in the US known to have poor records for road safety include US 83 in Texas, US 140 in California, Interstate 40 in Arizona, and US 18 in South Dakota. For US 1
  • Slick character
    February 24, 2015
    Police in Poland managed to stop a 29-year-old male driver after a 30km high speed pursuit. The BMW driver hit speeds as high as 260km/h (162.5mph) in his bid to elude his pursuers. When the traffic officers inspected the vehicle they realised the car’s rear tyres were so worn they had no tread remaining, and immediately impounded the dangerous vehicle along with arresting the offender. The man was from Krosno Odrzanskie in the west of Poland and close to the border with Germany. Unlike Germany however, Pol