Ontario: A cyclist sues for $20 million …

Source: www.thespec.com

Short version : Last summer, a cyclist crashed while participating in his very first cycling race (Hamilton, ON).

And later on after a long recovery period, Uy and his partner, Christine James, have filed a $20-million lawsuit against the Hamilton Cycling Club and its governing body, the Ontario Cycling Association, alleging the two organizations allowed the race to take place under unsafe conditions.

Police investigating the crash

This is a sad story at so many levels.
Sad for the victim, sad for the image of the sport, sad because this is how some races disappear from the calender, etc …
Of course we are not aware of all the details … and of course we feel so sorry for what is happening to this family, but … this is an accident.
We feel that at some point, there is only so much a race director can do. At some point, the responsibility of the race director and governing body stops, where the responsibility of the participant starts !

Is this another case of « I sue McDonald because it made me fat ? »

It is easy for us to say this, may be, if we were in the family of the victim I would feel differently …
Are you really not aware of the dangers ? Is it really difficult to figure it out ?
Did the race director really let too many people sign up ?

Read the long version here

2 commentaires
  1. I certainly feel bad for the racer who crashed in his first race….but it’s not necesarily an « unsafe race » that caused the crash. And I don’t know all the details, but wouldn’t he have signed a waiver before participating stating that he knew the dangers involved? And should he not have known the course?

  2. Obviously crashing is not a goal for a cyclist. Since it was his first race, he should have known his own ability as a cyclist. The weather changes all of the time. As a race director, you cannot always cancel a race if a little rain starts to come down. If theres a cancellation, there are NO refunds, there all participants lose out. Does this mean that if I enter a running race in the winter, and somehow theres snow on the ground, I am allowed to sue the race director if I slip? Absolutely not. By signing up I know the risks associated with racing, whether it be running, cycling, multsiport, etc. There is no common sense to even suing.