Age as a crucial Factor in Cycling Accidents

Here in Australia, its all sun and holiday time at the moment and nice to have time to think about updating the Bicycle Insurance Blog. An interesting article popped up over on BikeRadar.com talking about the age of cyclists and this as a major factor in cycling accidents.  Its a logical conclusion because so many young people don’t yet have road sense to judge speed of approaching traffic necessarily. As a cyclist on the road, whilst we try to be acutely aware of what’s around us we simply don’t have the peripheral vision someone in a car or truck might have with multiple mirrors to see things from. So, do you think age is a crucial factor in cycling accidents? Its an interesting take as are the comments. You can read it over on Bikeradar.com - CLICK HERE

Travel insurance for a cross country trip -  for UK cyclists

Happy new year to all and time I updated the Bicycle Insurance Blog!

Todays news comes from www.adventurecycling.org and a topic on one of their forums for travellers wanting to cycle in the UK. I thought some of the comments were pertinent to those of you looking for travel and bicycle insurance when travelling from the USA to the UK. The forum link is here:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=6499.0

Bicycle Insurance in Ireland

Well, the past month has flown and I’ve neglected the Bicycle Insurance Blog whilst doing other things. For those of you that read my postings, I’ll try and keep them more regular. Our news today comes from the wonderful City of Dublin, Ireland. The City in conjunction with advertising giant JC Decaux have teamed up to provide their ‘Dublin Bikes’ scheme. It’s great to see more major cities around the world offering bikes for Hire to travel throughout the city on short trips.

Kudos to the city for promoting Cycling / Biking and making it happen. Just one small glitch; they don’t offer any public liability with the service.

Which means if you aren’t insured, you aren’t covered.  Perhaps this is an opportunity for one of the major UK / Ireland insurers?? You can read the full story in the Independant Ireland here:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/blazing-saddles–bike-scheme-gets—off-to-flying-start-under-blue-skies-1885640.html

Should we make motorists legally responsible  for collisions with cyclists unless it could be proven that the cyclist deliberately caused the crash? That’s the question being asked in Malta – by the cycling community who are trying to change current laws.  Great initiative.

For a view on how cyclists are hoping to change policy in a different part of the world, the full article is published in the Times of Malta online version. You can read it by clicking the link below:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090817/local/petition-to-make-cycling-safer

With the Tour de France now over, I can now get my sleep pattern back together and feel a little more normal again in the mornings. It’s on very late at night here in Australia. Anyone who saw Jens Voight crash would know the benefits of Bike Insurance. All I can say is OUCH! Hope to see Jens up and about soon. He’s one of my favorites in the Pro Peleton and no-one wants to see people hurt.

Todays post comes from Ottawa in Canada. Distressing to hear about a car plough into 5 cyclists riding in the bicycle lane and then drive off without stopping.  A solid piece written about ” Biking, Boating And Other Dangerous Summer Activities” in the Ottawa Business Journal. The article outlines some of the benefits of accident insurance whilst pursuing these acitivites. For those interested in Bicycle Insurance in Ottawa, the article can be read here:

http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/295042685509594.php

Bicycle Liability Insurance.

Did you read that waiver you just signed before your local bike race?

Today’s news and views comes from velonews.com Part of the reason for the bicycle insurance blog being created is to make people aware that any form of bike racing, bunch riding or riding on public streets for that matter is dangerous and you should insure yourself for any mishap.

Today’s article deals with waiver forms being signed at local criterium races. Know what your signing and don’t expect that you can sue and win against a race organiser if you have signed a waiver. A detailed and interesting article on bicycle liability for racing. You can read the article by clicking here:

http://www.velonews.com/article/94079/the-explainer—signing-away-your-rights

How to get your employer to pay for your bike and Insurance.

Todays post comes courtesy of Moneyweek.com and discusses the Cycle to Work scheme operating in the UK. Just like you can salary package a car in most parts of the western world, in the UK you can also do this with bicycles! Not only that you can deduct the costs of Insuring the bike as well.

I only wish you could do that where I live (Australia). Then I could justify the Colnago with Campy Super Record I want! Anyway, for those of you from the UK, you can find the article here and let the Taxman help you pay for a new bike.  http://www.moneyweek.com/personal-finance/get-fit-and-beat-the-recession-buy-a-bike-14919.aspx

Enjoy!

Bicycle Insurance in London and 10 UK towns

Or – Why you should lock it up before you leave!

The Bicycle Insurance News today comes from the Mail Online, the online version of the UK Daily Mail newspaper.

Excerpt: “In an experiment designed to test the honesty of recession-hit Britons, researchers planted bikes across the country’s cities and tested how long it was before they was stolen.The experiment, conducted across 10 UK cities, saw unsecured bicycles left in high footfall locations. The bicycles were then left and researchers timed how long it was before they were wheeled away by opportunistic thieves.”

I’ll leave it to you to read the full article and results of the experiment. Suffice to say make sure you have a decent lock and insurance. Read the full article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1193133/Liverpool-Britains-honest-city–surprise-surprise-London-worst.html

Bicycle Insurance in America –

Is a Pedicab a Bicycle?  Should it legally have seat belts and be registered with license plates? What do you think?

An interesting article this week comes from the The New York Times.  Anyone who owns, operates or rides in a pedicab this is for you. This article comes from the fact a pedicab collided with a Taxi at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn, New York this week.

Unfortunately the pedicab ‘driver / rider’ was seriously hurt.  Insurance, Regulation and Safety are major concerns at play here.  So is the inevitable finger-pointing by authorities as a result.

At the heart of all this some-one has been seriously injured.  I wish the pedicab rider a speedy recovery.

The full article can be read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/nyregion/12pedicab.html?_r=1&hpw

For those who operate pedicabs throughout the United States, the book available on the USA post page through Amazon might just be a worthwhile investment. Clearly in certain parts of the US, this topic is a grey area legally.

The Book is called ‘Bicycling and the Law”  The USA Page is here: http://bicycleinsuranceblog.com/bicycle-insurance-usa


News today from Canada, where the headlines of ‘The Province’ read:    ‘Push for cyclist-only streets as hundreds hospitalized.’ The statistics shouldn’t surprise, but then no-one wants to be a statistic!

Expectantly there is the comments that follow the article with the usual chestnuts being thrown up by certain elements. But hey, its a democracy and everyone is entitled to their opinion. It just reinforces that for those us us who love cycling – we live to ride, but we also want to ride another day and should be insured. You can read the full article here: http://www.theprovince.com/Travel/Push+cyclist+only+streets+hundreds+hospitalized/1675711/story.html

Bicycle Insurance UK – Looks like UK insurer  Insurancewide.com are moving into the niche of bicycle insurance and issued a press release on Monday to tell us all about it. No news on costs of premiums as to be expected, but might be worth considering for those of you in the UK looking to insure your steed. The press Release can be found here: www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=96726

Cycle racing and the Duty of care of organisers

An interesting post today from our friends at Velonews.com about the duty of care of race organisers, in this case the UCI. Anyone who saw this years last stage of the Giro D’ Italia and the timetrial witnessed the conditions on the day, and how different riders approached what many consider a dangerous stage.

But what of a rider who crashes in circumstances where the weather during an event makes the course dangerous? Questions of liability, the duty of care of organisers and of  the riders come into question.  An interesting read for anyone who races bicycles in Road-racing, Criteriums, Triathlons, Mountain Bike and BMX racing; or even just participating events. You can find the full article  here:  http://www.velonews.com/article/92810/the-explainer—who-decides-what-s-safe


A good feel story from Milwaukie, USA on www.clackamasreview.com today on city staff getting around on recycled bikes. The City paid for the bicycle liability insurances and city workers were able to recondition stolen and unclaimed bicycles from the Police Dept.  Now that’s what you’d call sustainable transport. You can read the full article HERE.

With the Northern Hemisphere approaching summer, news today that there are roughly 200,000 bicycles stolen in Canada each year. The Meaford Express brings us a timely article titled – “Lock up your bike or lose it.” The full article can be read by clicking HERE.

May 27th, 2009:

A news item today from Examiner.com on Bicycle Accident Insurance in America. A short piece which asks the question on why is it so hard to get the same type of cover in America that is available in some European countries.  A valid argument we hope that insurers in America will take note of. The full article can be read here.


For readers of the Bicycle Insurance Blog, I’m going to start this post with a question.

How many of you actually have Bicycle Insurance and how important is it to you?

Sounds easy enough, and I guess that’s why you are reading through the website. I started this site because I ride with a local bunch 3 – 4 days a week. We ride hard and fast, and its not for the faint-hearted for 2 days of the week.  But most of us are over 30. (Many of us are closer to 50 but we still love it!) So we enjoy speed, but we won’t ride recklessly.

A couple of weeks ago one of our riders didn’t listen to the call ‘Car up’ meaning parked car ahead and, ran into the back of it at 50km/h. Ouch!! He’s ok (Broken Collarbone, bruised all over etc) but his $8,000 Giant TCR Advanced Roadbike is trashed and the car needs a stint in the panel shop. He did have Insurance through our State Bicycle Organisation. The public liability cover insures him against damage to the car which will also run into the thousands of dollars.

So if you ride with a bunch – a small lapse in concentration can cost plenty. I’d be interested in your thoughts on how important Bicycle Insurance  is to you.

How many of you actually have Insurance and how important is it to you?

Until next time, ride safe and thanks for reading.