Accident on the Stokid Python

Missing spokes....

We are having a pause riding the stokid as we got into an accident (20/3/2012): Vincent was racing his "motorcycle" on the rear of the bike by lying low over his steer. To be even more "aerodynamic" he lifted his feet up to rest on the seat stay tubes.

Unfortunately his right foot got taken by the turning wheel and he got painfully stuck between frame and spokes. His leg was so pressed in, that I had to cut the spokes away from the wheel to get him loose - luckily a gardener passed by and the man had the right tools on him. He kindly transported us to the hospital.

After that we have had a few dramatic days for the whole family, as it was unclear if there would be bad-bad-bad consequences for the foot itself. But in the end the result is a strained ankle and a pretty nasty wound that is now only slowly healing - it will still take a few weeks (in all 5-6 weeks). He's had a splint on his ankle mostly to protect the wound.

Future of the Stokid Python

It is unsure what will happen to the stokid bike. It might be that Vincent will be afraid of riding the bike, as he was very shocked the days after the accident (e.g. trembling the first 2 days). Even when Vincent would be not afraid, his mother certainly is....

It is easy enough to place some protection so he cannot get his feet in the wheels again, but the real problem with the stokid is, that I cannot keep an eye on Vincent while riding. He is in my blind spot. And he has been observed doing some fun, but also dangerous things while I ride oblivious on. I will try with a head mounted mirror to see if that could fix the problem. To be continued.....

Conclusion and Lessons Learned

Well, there is no conclusion yet.

I think there is a lot I can learn from this accident. One part is learning to think about safety. I got blinded by the worst thing that could happen. In my view this is falling, typically when the front wheel slips sideways. Instead, I should also have been contemplating about other things that could go wrong. Not because I want to become a doomsday thinker, but to be aware and reason about the possible accidents that could happen.