Sickle bar mows biker

[dave1949]

Bicyclist nearly loses leg in freak accident | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Not a freak accident IMO, careless load securing.

Last night coming home from the grocery store past dark, I was dodging bales of hay that fell off a trailer.

Double check those loads!

 

[joshuabardwell]

Sounds like the hydraulics were holding the mower in the upright position, and then leaked down while transporting. Holy cow. What a nightmare for the cyclist.

 

[flyerdan]

Not only that, but it was afternoon, presumably daylight. I don't know about you guys, but I suspect that you, like me, check your mirrors often when towing or hauling something to make sure that nothing is amiss.

 

[RoyJackson]

Boy...there's a lawsuit!

 

[sixdogs]

Read this morning that the guy lost his leg and was a professor at the local state university.
What a tragedy.

UMaine professor loses leg after lawn mower blade falls of passing truck, hits bicyclist — Bangor — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine

 

[PRF]

That's just awful

 

[dave1949]

Boy...there's a lawsuit!

I'm thinking the same. Don't understand why the driver wasn't charged with not having his load secured. I can see how it can happen, but I also think with a reasonable level of care, and observation as noted by FlyerDan, it wouldn't.

A safety or backup strap for highway towing would be prudent I'd think. With the way the DOT picks over heavy equipment tie downs, you'd think they would want that mower arm strapped too.

 

[JCByrd24]

I believe the rule to have a separate tie down for "attachments" doesn't come into play until 10000 lbs or something, but calling it a freak accident is not really accurate. It's not like the driver is just on his merry way, his auto insurance will pay out to the fullest and he will probably get sued for damages above the coverage he has. May even get sued anyway.

 

[tcreeley]

It's Maine- figure the driver was just getting on with his day, he pulled over, did his best- what else is there to say!
Cripes, the guy was on a bicycle - what do you expect?

Just the ironic tragedy of it all.

Stephen King was hit on the road while walking- man got a 6 month suspended sentence.
I'm glad it's not my problem to figure this stuff out. Stephen king bought the vehicle that hit him and smashed it up with a sledge hammer.
Life happens.

 

[aczlan]

I'm thinking the same. Don't understand why the driver wasn't charged with not having his load secured. I can see how it can happen, but I also think with a reasonable level of care, and observation as noted by FlyerDan, it wouldn't.
A safety or backup strap for highway towing would be prudent I'd think. With the way the DOT picks over heavy equipment tie downs, you'd think they would want that mower arm strapped too.

Per the second link, there was a mechanical lock of some kind that he used, but it broke off. I agree that a second strap would be prudent.

Aaron Z

 

[Mace Canute]

I'm thinking the same. Don't understand why the driver wasn't charged with not having his load secured. I can see how it can happen, but I also think with a reasonable level of care, and observation as noted by FlyerDan, it wouldn't.

A safety or backup strap for highway towing would be prudent I'd think. With the way the DOT picks over heavy equipment tie downs, you'd think they would want that mower arm strapped too.

I believe the rule to have a separate tie down for "attachments" doesn't come into play until 10000 lbs or something, but calling it a freak accident is not really accurate. It's not like the driver is just on his merry way, his auto insurance will pay out to the fullest and he will probably get sued for damages above the coverage he has. May even get sued anyway.

From the site sixdogs posted:

"The driver used the factory-installed device, which is made to secure the blade, Fitch said, but the device that holds the blade up failed. The driver couldn't be charged with failing to secure his load because he took reasonable steps to ensure that the tractor was safely secured on the trailer.

and

Godfried's injuries could have been far more severe had the driver not taken a wide berth and slowed down when passing the bicyclist, according to Fitch.

Police believe the truck was traveling around 35 mph in a 55-mph zone when the 8-foot blade hit Godfried's leg.

It sure doesn't sound like the truck driver can be faulted if the factory installed storage device failed and his slow speed pass works in his favour of being a cautious safety oriented driver. John Deere OTOH is likely to find themselves named as defendants in a lawsuit though.

 

[murphy1244]

And talk about some deep pockets, Ouch!

 

[sixdogs]

It was probably one of those old sickle bar mowers with a bolt that go through the sickle bar to hold it in the up position. Those are from the 1940's or 50's and the nut never holds. Passadumkeag, Maine is just a four corners rural former town and casual trailering of things typical. To me, I see the driver being at fault but I don't think the manufacturer has a problem with an old mower being trailered and not in being used for it's intended purpose.

It would be great if the newspaper article had some of the basic info there.

 

[mikehaugen]

It's a terrible thing that happened and I feel bad for the cyclist, however. ..

I don't see it as much different than driving down the road and having your spare tire winch cable breaking and the tire goes flopping down the expressway and goes through someone's windshield. Tragic, but still "a freak accident". That is of course assuming the driver did have a reasonable locking pin on the blade. I load a lot of crap into my pickup that really ends up relying on the cheap tailgate latches.

 

[dave1949]

The article I read didn't say "sickle bar" mower specifically, but I assumed that from the description.

Anyways, the locking nut on a sickle bar mower isn't intended to be a trailering situation lock-down. Vibration and so forth could cause it to loosen on its own. It could be so old that metal fatigue and/or rust played a role.

Murphy's Law applies here: Could this thing flop down? Well of course it could. Nothing "freaky" about that.

I don't see willful negligence involved.

 

[sixdogs]

Agreed, I don't see intentional negligence either, just lack of common sense and an understanding of mechanical capabilities.

Thankfully, most of us here are cautious to a fault and that's a good thing. If something can fail it usually will unless you are overprepared for that failure. Same as wash the car and it rains; don't wash the car and it will never rain.

I have learned to take that extra moment when trailering or towing and think what can or will go wrong and hedge against it. Straps take only a minute and can prevent changing the life of yourself and someone else forever.

 

[Mace Canute]

It was probably one of those old sickle bar mowers with a bolt that go through the sickle bar to hold it in the up position. ..............

I think you are right about that.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Sounds like the transporter did use the locking device on the mower.
I'd have gone with a strap or chain myself; but then I'm an old hand at transportation safety.
Hope he had good insurance!