Can anyone remember anyone dying riding a trial. Not counting someone riding on public roads between sections. To my mind that's road riding where the rider is mixing with general traffic.

I can't, and to my mind that makes this the safest motor, or bike sport. It would be interesting to compare results with other sports

 Between sections riding Vintage on a 500. Had a heart attack. He was an accomplished plastic surgeon just about ready to retire.

I've not died yet though  there's plenty in our club want to murder me for all the stick I've dished out  over the years.

What I've noticed is if someone get's hurt it's either between sections or playing about on stuff that they really shouldn't be near.

Rarely in an an actual section probably because there concentrations better

Edited March 7, 20179 yr by breagh

I have heard that someone died many years ago riding an old Bultaco when the motor reversed on a hill and started running backwards. Seems the ones with points can do that.

I'm going to live for eternity, I'm still here to prove it. 

Death must be good........ everybody saves it 'til last........

At the highest level, I think trials is the safest by seeing how world champions can win so many titles in a row.

So the count so far is;

1 by natural causes

1 maybe yet to be confirmed genuine trials death 

Scope of replies; USA, UK, NZ, and dating back to '72ish

conclusion so far; If you don't want to die, ride trials, and don't stop......ever! After all its the stopping that kills, AND we'll give you a five.

 Thanks for the replies, hopefully we'll get some more. This was started by a discussion following a mountain bike incident. A bit grim but food for thought, and an argument for better insurance rates. Don't lump us in with other bike riders maybe.

without getting to down and morbid, it is the safest motorcycle sport when compared to enduro, mx, grass track, circuit racing and finally "real" racing. You just have to look at the TT deaths every year (not to pick on the TT, look at various Irish Road races and Manx GP, Southern 100, etc) to realise we are very different levels of risk.

But by all means lets not be complacent - we've various steps in place (helmets, medicals, risk assessments, bike safety features) to reduce accidents. Reading between the lines one would infer that lanyards will become compulsory in the future (as an example of safety features still coming in)

I would think autotest is the safest form of motor sport (probably the most boring as well)

autotest is great fun, only done one but used to watch it quite often, it may be safer than trials though - far less chance of minor injuries.

By its very nature of being a slow speed, control based sport it will always be relatively low risk with a relatively low chance of injury. Crashes are only ever going to be low energy impacts. The basic safety precautions taken in trials are more than adequate to protect from the most likely accidents. Not that it's without risk you only have to look at what happened to Martyn Ashton to realise that things can still go wrong if it's motorised or human powered. 

 

Comparisons like this are never really valid but can make for an interesting discussion. It comes down to what level of risk you feel comfortable with the old chestnut of “lies, damn lies and statistics”. People will always as die taking part in sports/hobbies in the same way that everyone will die. Things like heart attacks are more linked to the average age/health of participants rather than the risks associated with it.

Yes road racing and in particular “real road racing” are higher risk but they are also most fun. Of course that is entirely my own opinion.

 

On a side note autotests might not seem like much fun to watch but they are an absolute blast to take part in. Think of it being like a time and observation trial but in a car!

On 07/03/2017 at 4:52 AM, copemech said:

I have heard that someone died many years ago riding an old Bultaco when the motor reversed on a hill and started running backwards. Seems the ones with points can do that.

My brother did this on a TY50, didn't die but did go backwards down the hill very quickly! 

too much complacency here for my liking.. when was the last time you saw even a basic first aid kit at a trial? when did you last hear that the local ambulance service had being notified of a trial in advance? when did you last see observers and riders briefed on what to do in an emergency? three simple basic things that could on that rare occasion save a life.

that next tragedy could be this weekend or in twenty years only one thing is certain.. its coming.

.

Edited March 8, 20179 yr by totalshell

I've almost died of embarrassment a few times on a trials bike.....