Road debris or clothesline?

[VifferFun]

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Did a bit of research and found this.

In Lahore Pakistan they have a kite festival that usually results in several deaths. Motorcycle riders are the most vulnerable to decapitation so the city distributes safety wire free of charge. Here's a picture of a safety wired bike (see the yellow looping from the handlebars over the riders head). OP, you're pretty lucky to come out of this as well as you did.

I think that banning the killer invisible chinese wire is a good solution. What's wrong with the simple kite string that I used to use as a kid?

 

[gtm]

I think that banning the killer invisible chinese wire is a good solution. What's wrong with the simple kite string that I used to use as a kid?

Yeah, I dont understand this so called invisible chinese string?

Nor the comment about pakistanis and afghans gluing glass shards to their strings? Why would anyone do that, and why target those groups specifically?

Whats wrong with good old yarn is what I am asking.

I still dont understand how the op managed to get clotheslined though and nothing else in traffic had manage to hit it..

 

[VifferFun]

Yeah, I dont understand this so called invisible chinese string?

Nor the comment about pakistanis and afghans gluing glass shards to their strings? Why would anyone do that, and why target those groups specifically?

Whats wrong with good old yarn is what I am asking.

I still dont understand how the op managed to get clotheslined though and nothing else in traffic had manage to hit it..

Bikers sit pretty high, and I'm guessing that the angled windshield of a car would simply function like the wire protectors in the photo.

 

[Twoth]

holy crap! I've never actually thought about getting clotheslined before :s

 

[TorontoBoy]

If it really was this invisible Chinese kite string, I would make it a point to see that it is banned here before someone gets seriously hurt.

I am unsure where you got the reference to "Chinese" kite string. Kites are huge in China, but they have no tradition of kite fighting. Regardless, kite string that is glass coated is already banned from importation into Canada. Kite flyers just make their own. Invisible kite string is also called monofillament, used for fishing, and available from your local Walmart.

...Nor the comment about pakistanis and afghans gluing glass shards to their strings? Why would anyone do that, and why target those groups specifically?..

These groups, namely from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have a very long cultural tradition of kite fighting. All these countries have kite fighting competitions, Their kites are beautiful, agile and require great skill to fly. Gluing glass particles to the string is part of kite fighting and cutting your opponent's string.

Kite flying in Kabul, Afghanistan

...kite flying was recently banned in Punjab due to recent motorcyclist deaths caused by glass-coated or metal kite-strings.

Thankfully this did not happen here in Toronto. How can such a benign child's pastime become a tool that hurt motorcyclists?

 

[Lightcycle]

Nor the comment about pakistanis and afghans gluing glass shards to their strings? Why would anyone do that, and why target those groups specifically?
Whats wrong with good old yarn is what I am asking.

Kite fighting is popular in those parts of the world. The glass shards in the string are used to cut the strings of other kites in flight. The winner is the last kite left flying.

 

[GreyGhost]

They are fighting kites. You try to cut the other guys string, that's why they put things o. To make them sharper and more durable. It looks like it could be fun, never tried it though. Leaving pieces around is completely irresponsible, hopefully this won't happen again.

EDIT
Bah. Too slow. See above for better descriptions.

Yeah, I dont understand this so called invisible chinese string?

Nor the comment about pakistanis and afghans gluing glass shards to their strings? Why would anyone do that, and why target those groups specifically?

Whats wrong with good old yarn is what I am asking.

I still dont understand how the op managed to get clotheslined though and nothing else in traffic had manage to hit it..

 

[evang]

wow.. that's pretty scary!


and kites?! go figure!

 

[fastar1]

Still doesn't make sense to me. There would need to be tension on the string to do that, so someone would have to be in the process of flying a kite almost horizontally across the road. If it was a cut piece of string it wouldn't have stayed airborne long enough to wander onto the street and it wouldn't have had the tension to do any harm.

I still think it was a loose string tied to a car or van, flapping in the wind.

 

[TorontoBoy]

Still doesn't make sense to me. There would need to be tension on the string to do that, so someone would have to be in the process of flying a kite almost horizontally across the road. If it was a cut piece of string it wouldn't have stayed airborne long enough to wander onto the street and it wouldn't have had the tension to do any harm.

I still think it was a loose string tied to a car or van, flapping in the wind.

Tension can be caused by the kite string getting caught in cars moving at +60kph. The 3 yo kid that was cut up in Milliken Park Scarborough was cut because the string got caught in a car moving in the parking lot. The string is very thin, near impossible to see and therefore avoid.

 

[Sillylion]

Oh great, another thing to huant the back of my mind. Killer kites and giant whales will be chasing me in ly dreams tonight

 

[Panici]

Kite lines with glass on them. Sloths in the tunnels. What's next?!

 

[bobjohnson]

Still doesn't make sense to me. There would need to be tension on the string to do that, so someone would have to be in the process of flying a kite almost horizontally across the road. If it was a cut piece of string it wouldn't have stayed airborne long enough to wander onto the street and it wouldn't have had the tension to do any harm.

I still think it was a loose string tied to a car or van, flapping in the wind.

Think about it this way. Kite string gets cut, kite flies away... string gets caught somewhere, breaks off from the kite, now you have a peice of glass covered string flying around... also from the other end, the guy no longer needs the string that he was holding on to the kite with (cus the kite itself is gone), so he throws it on the ground... this gets blown around in the wind, ends up floating through the air or stuck on a car and hits lots of different things, including people walking around or riding motorcycles... Tension isnt necessary, just merely scraping this string across skin is enough to cause abrasions like the OP got... its string thats coated in glass particles after all...

 

[fastar1]

I've never seen string get picked up off he ground by the wind. Maybe a gale foce wind (or being dragged behind a moving car). So I'm back to the string being dragged by a car.

And then why are we so obsessed over it being kite string? Is it possible? Sure, and it makes fo an interesting story to tell at the bar but it's far more likely to have been some string that was used to strap something down on a car/van/truck. I see plenty of those cases in the parking lot. How many times do you see competitive kite flying anywhere? I never have.

 

[bobjohnson]

Have you ever been fishing? Ive seen tons of fishing line picked up by the wind and blown away... thats basically what this stuff is.

Also, when i lived right next to humber bay park id see kite fighting almost every weekend... so... i dunno what to tell you...

But yeah its definitely possible it was something attached to a car somehow. I dont know how many people use fishing line to tie something down... tie down rope would have probably not left such small thin marks.

 

[thedude]

It looks like a kite string injury. This is why kites are banned at Milliken Park in Scarborough. Stupid people, typically from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, use near invisible kite string, sometimes with glass particles glued to the string, and they don't clean up.

Meet Liam Forbes, then 3 years old, cut on the ankle by kite string. This is Liam's ankle injury:

Bayview Avenue, just south of the Rosedale Valley turn off, is right beside Riverdale Park. Look this up on a map. Wind conditions the last couple of days are ideal for kite flying.

I live right next to riverdale park and can confirm that people have been flying kites there over the past few days. I'm not sure about kite fighting though

 

[companyman]

I don't know for sure what happened, but kite string (from a cut kite) is the only explanation so far that works, so I believe it. The reasoning:

1. If it was some string/wire strung across the road (clothesline), at neck height, it would have been taken out by a minivan or pickup truck since that's the height. Bayview is 4 lanes and high traffic there (south of Rosedale Valley). Not any pedestrians either, so I would have noticed somebody lying in wait ready to pull the string taught.

2. If it was a solid object (rock, discarded cigarette butt, whatever), it would have hit and bounced off.

3. Look at the marks - several, sort of parallel. And I found another scrape on the strap of the messenger bag I had over my shoulder/across my chest. Consistent with a cluster of string.

4. So a kite with this razor string gets cut, flies away. String floats around due to car air turbulence. Lots of stuff to get stuck on one side (trees, fence, lamp posts) and I end up riding across it. It gets snagged somewhere and pulls. Check the right side of my neck, the scar is farther back on that side than the left. Eventually I power through with shallow cuts (that hurt like hell though at the time) and the line gets broken.

Everybody at work thinks I have gambling debts with the mafia or something, they sent me a message, and I'm lying to cover it up.

Solution - I'm just going to buy a windscreen that rises over neck height and continue to wear full gear. Good enough for me, but more importantly, good enough for the wife. There was a chance there that I'd be forced to give it all up.

 

[_eug_]

I think you should still contact the police and possibly the media. We dont need anyone getting decapitated.

 

[VifferFun]

I am unsure where you got the reference to "Chinese" kite string. Kites are huge in China, but they have no tradition of kite fighting. Regardless, kite string that is glass coated is already banned from importation into Canada. Kite flyers just make their own. Invisible kite string is also called monofillament, used for fishing, and available from your local Walmart.

The other sites that I read referred to Chinese-made invisible kite string being illegal.

These groups, namely from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have a very long cultural tradition of kite fighting. All these countries have kite fighting competitions, Their kites are beautiful, agile and require great skill to fly. Gluing glass particles to the string is part of kite fighting and cutting your opponent's string.

Kite flying in Kabul, Afghanistan

Thankfully this did not happen here in Toronto. How can such a benign child's pastime become a tool that hurt motorcyclists?

I've watched "The Kite Runner" movie which shows the kite-flying competitions you speak of. Sad movie, but the kite flying competitions are pretty cool.

 

[Teal]

City mulls kite-flying ban

The city is considering a ban on dangerous kite flying from city parks.A report going to the Parks and Environment Committee next week recommends a ban on kites with strings made of hazardous materials including fishing line or piano wire.

The report also recommends a permit process for competitive kite flying and a ban on kites in parks that have "significant bird activity."

City staff are calling for a $300 fine for any infraction.

The action comes after kite flying was banned in Scarborough's Milliken Park last year. A Scarborough councillor complained that sharp, dangerous pieces of string were being left in local parks after kite-fighting competitions.

Discarded kite string left in the park caused injuries to animals and damaged city equipment.

Some kite-flying enthusiasts are advocates of kite fighting — where two kites do aerial battle, trying to cut the string of their opponent. The problem is that the kite string — which in many cases is as strong as fishing line — can get caught in trees or left on the ground, where birds and other small animals can get tangled up.

Gogi Malik, a kite-flying enthusiast, said for the most part, the kite-flying community is on board with the city's recommendations.

"If anybody is going to fly in a park or anywhere, they should have a permit so everybody knows who is flying what," Malik said.

City council is scheduled to vote on the regulations next week.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/05/27/toronto-kite-ban.html

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