PULLMAN, Wash. (BRAIN) — Local news reports say 6-year-old Denny Curran died last month following a bike crash in which he was struck in the stomach by an exposed handlebar.
The Pullman Police Department announced on its Facebook page that Curran died from internal injuries including a torn artery.
KHQ.com reported that Curran was riding with four friends on a July evening when he crashed on the pavement. His father told the news organization that he later inspected the bike and saw the handlebars were bent and the grip was torn, exposing the metal handlebar end.
There have been numerous studies of childhood and adult injuries from bike handlebar ends in recent years. One 2002 study estimated that 1,147 Americans had serious bike-related injuries involving abdominal or pelvic organ injury in 1997, and 886 of these injuries likely were associated with handlebars.
The CPSC requires that grips be secure on the bars, so that when the grip is held in a yoke and a weighted bike is dropped, the grip does not pull off. There are also standards limiting how much higher a handlebar end can be from the saddle.
