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Before discussing what can be done to make the (ultra) endurance races safer, I think there is a more sticky issue -- legal. I don't have any background in law, but I think these points can be the basis for fairly sound legal arguments --
Cyclists might think that they do_not pose risk to others on the road, but that is_not right. Everyone on the road, is a potential risk to others. So everyone needs to be responsible. When folks do endurance rides, it can be argued that their behaviour on the road can be risky, and so they are liable in case there is some accident. Also, any medical / life insurance that the rider has, could be deemed void, incase the rider is a casualty.
And it's not necessarily about what sort of actual behaviour the rider exhibits; it's just the fact that the rider is in a endurance ride, that can make a case against them. Put another way -- a rider doing some ride on their own, might ride in a dangerous way on the road, but if there is no plan they have published about the ride, they might be ok. While another rider in some well publicised endurance ride, might be riding very safe, but just the fact that they are in an publicsed endurance ride (where info is avaiable to anybody that there is some element of competition/race involved in the ride), could make for a case against them.
And it does_not have to be a rase perse; brevets (which are non-competitive rides) can also come under the purview of the above points, because the time stipulation makes them a race against time.
So as long as there is anything "published" about a ride, which can be used to argue that the rider was on a regular open road, and was riding with some intent of competition / race, can open up a complete range of legal issues for the rider.
What argument will be valid in court, will ofcourse be different in different countries. Some of the above might be more applicable to foreign countries, where the laws are very specific, and very enforceable. In countries like India, the laws and thier interpretation/enforcement can be quite haphazard, IMO. So will be very difficult to say what argument will carry what weight in Indian courts.
But I do feel that any published ride on regular roads, with any semblance of competition / race, is legally dubious. Would like to see what folks think of that aspect. Just wanted to discuss this aspect on it's own, before getting into ride organisation and logistics aspects.
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Shows how openly published info (a tweet, in this case), plus things like bike config, could be used in arguments against a cyclist.
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That said, I was_not looking to debate the case itself. What I was saying was, the prosecution was trying to infer the cyclist's "riding mindset" from a tweet the cyclist had sent, about riding that bike. It might be far fetched, & the judge may_not agree with the prosecution's argument, but that is on a case by case basis. Such "published" pieces of info can have a bearing on the ruling in some case.
If one is participating in a publicised endurance ride, the argument that the rider was "riding fast / racing" is a much much stronger argument, than a tweet about riding experience on a bike.
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Always try to be clear in your head about what your legal responsibility / accountability might be. That should be top of the mind. It will be very bad, if you drop the ball on that, while trying to give priority to something else.
If some pedestrian suddenly comes in your way on the road, you might be within the speed limit, but still unable to stop in time. If you swerve, & hit someone else, & let's say there are no winesses or cameras etc. to prove that some pedestrian did come in your way (or heck, even if there are), you might be liable for the injury you caused to the other party that you hit when you swerved. As bad as it may sound, you most likely would_not be liable, if you had not swerved, & ended up hitting the pedestrian who came in your way. Because then the spot of the accident might prove that you had right of way.
A pedestrian (say a kid) on the side of the road, can easily make an unexpected move & take you by surprise even if you are within the speed limit.
I have mentioned this on other threads in the past -- the habit of swerving to avoid a pothole. One should try to slow down, & hit the pothole if it comes to it, rather than swerve w/o giving adequate indication to other vehicles. If you swerve suddenly, you might relinquish your legal safety net.
Again, all this might_not mean much in India, where I am not really sure how trafic accident cases are investigated & then handled in courts. But atleast on paper (& in countries where traffic cases do get investigated properly), the entire case could turn on any of these aspects.
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