Competitive Amateur Cyclist Dies, Police Investigate

This past weekend, in Bethel Connecticut, a 48 amateur cyclist died from injuries sustained during a race. The cyclist was Markus Bohler of Germany who worked as en executive for an industrial company. Almost every professional sport has some sort of organized amateur level and cycling is no different. The governing body over cycling in the United States is USA Cycling. This organization promotes, organizations, and runs many events, but the majority of races are conducted by organizations or individual race organizers that are licensed by USA Cycling. Every cyclist is required to purchase a license that allows them to race, but the license doubles for a waiver of liability. Before racing, officials ensure that all cyclists are meeting certain requirements. These include all riders wearing helmets, no loose fitting clothing, and every cyclists must have plugs in their bar ends. The fact that officials let Mr. Bohler ride, must mean that he was abiding by all necessary safety precautions. Accidents in professional and amateur cycling are very common, but serious injury resulting from the said accidents is not.

The question that arises from this incident, from a legal standpoint, is two fold. Firstly, VeloNews, which is a print and online publication of amateur and professional cycling news, reported that police are investigating the incident. In this case, police would be looking for any indication that there was criminal activity. If there was any wrongdoing, it would be negligence or even manslaughter. From the details that were released it seems that this was an ordinary crash with no major issues.

The other legal issue, my be a civil suit. If the family of the deceased feels that someone was at fault they may pursue a lawsuit. One of the main issues may be how legally binding the cycling license is. It is understandable that a sport like this is very dangerous. Even in amateur races, speeds can reach 40 miles per hour on flats and upwards of 60 miles per hour on downhills. Is this inherent danger something the riders can waive legally? Also, USA Cycling requires that riders do so many races before upgrading to a faster and better category of racing. This is something that allows for a level competition field and for rider safety. There are 5 categories with 5 being beginner and 1 being the best; Mr. Bohler was racing in a category 3/4 race. It says that he was the only one injured, but died from multiple skull fractures early Monday morning.

It is with hope, that no legal action be taken against a sport that already struggles with revenues, but if wrongdoing is found, those who were involved need to be punished. From the initial reports and reports since, it seems that this was nothing out of the ordinary, except that the end result was much more grim than normal.

The VeloNews article can be found at: http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/03/news/police-seek-details-in-fatal-connecticut-criterium-crash_209939