Bad accident last weekend, got me thinking

[grossman]

Long story short, my friends and I came up on an accident on a hill last weekend. Guy on a switchback who passed my group like a friggin asshat on tight twisty trail 2 minutes before decided he was going to get air off a blind hill. Well, he did this on the wrong side of the trail and went almost head on into oncoming. He messed up the passenger on the oncoming sled pretty bad. The guy was all twisted up and his leg wasn't really attached anymore where the poo's A-arm caught it in the shin of his left leg. The Poo rider got away with a broken arm and the driver of the other sled hurt her wrist a bit. Luckily it looked as though the guy with the damaged leg will survive. We were able to get him as stable as possible and get pressure on the leg while waiting 1.5 hours for paramedics.

So, this got me thinking and paranoid. I'll definitely be picking up a tekvest for next season. But I'm also wondering if a set of knee/shin guards might be worth it. Does anybody here trail ride with these and if so do you have any recommendations?

The other thing it got me thinking was that I'll never be allowing my two young daughters to double ride with me on a trail again. Not until they're bigger and able to possibly survive an impact. I thought about this as the very next sled to come through the accident scene behind the victim was a father and his little 4-5 year old girl riding in front of him....

Here's the only pic I took after the paramedics arrived. This is the sled that caused the accident.

 

[Blue Dave]

Riding during the day on twisty or hilly trails makes me nervous especially on the weekends. I make sure that I am always on the right side of the trail but it is the other idiots riding out of control that scare the crap out of me!

I do not feel safe coming around a blind corner or cresting a hill until night time when I can see the oncoming headlights.

I have thought about wearing a chest protector especially after two guys I know suffered broken ribs and collapsed lungs from crashes. One survived, unfortunately the other did not.

 

[dboe03]

Wow...

 

[natedawgedog]

ive learned over the years, and every injury i sustained during riding I added protection to keep that happening again and I say the more protection the better, i were a tekvest (bruised ribs), with the shoulder and elbow protectors (thought I broke my elbow on a tree), knee pads (bashing knee into something on my sled that caused the knee cap to fracture and a small chip gone), full head/face helmet, then my avi gear. when puting on new protection it feels bulky at first but once you were them a few times you feel naked without them.

 

[yox185]

 

[Irv]

That's more like it

 

[nbsledder]

Nice job on the seat.....now if someone could just get this tatooed on his forehead!

 

[grossman]

hahaha, took me a second to see it.

 

[dilligaf]

ive learned over the years, and every injury i sustained during riding I added protection to keep that happening again and I say the more protection the better, i were a tekvest (bruised ribs), with the shoulder and elbow protectors (thought I broke my elbow on a tree), knee pads (bashing knee into something on my sled that caused the knee cap to fracture and a small chip gone), full head/face helmet, then my avi gear. when puting on new protection it feels bulky at first but once you were them a few times you feel naked without them.

X2, I don't leave home with out it. I got the wife and kids covered also. I heard complaints the first time out, but now its second nature. Spending around $1k for additonal protection for everyone seems cheap compared to what could happen without it. Best offense is a good defense.

 

[Blue Dave]

I like it! Once was great but 3X is even better!

 

[Nytro40th]

I would not be surprised if the asshat was impaired too.

 

[grossman]

I would not be surprised if the asshat was impaired too.

Couldn't tell you. His friends kept him well separated from the family of the guy he hit. They were more then a little upset. They rode him out to the road and loaded him onto an ambulance pretty quickly.

 

[Dreams_of_Apex]

This is a big Part of the reason I don't trail ride too much, mind you there are asshats everywhere so that's no guarantee....

 

[Blue Hornet]

Tek-vests save lives! I once rode with a bunch of friends and we had a new guy with us that seemed to want to prove his skills. I came around a corner and his sled was sitting there without him. Long story short he highsided and flew right into a tree and ended on the other side of the tree. Hit the tree with his torso. At first i thought he was dead and couldnt get any movement out of him. He finally came to and had to be hauled away and ended bruised badly and that was it. No way he would have lived without that vest on.

 

[RIGIDONE]

i used to downhill mountain bike, so i wear the gear i wore for doing that, i think it offers a better freedom of movement than a tekvest, you can wear it under your shirt and cant really tell its on.. here is a link to a website that has good deals on the stuff..they also have knee/shin guards.. its all top quality stuff has some very good features, and its made for slamming into trees and rocks..


http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/16214- ... leeves.htm