More Bad News for South Florida Bicyclists – Trek Bike Recall to affect almost 1 Million Bicycles
At a time when bicycle accidents and deaths seem to be at an all-time high in Florida, and particularly Fort Lauderdale and Miami, now bicyclists have another danger to worry about. One of the world’s leading bicycle manufacturers, Trek Bicycles, has announced a recall of almost 1 million bicycles
due to a malfunctioning front wheel release. The recall news comes on the heels of another horrific bicycle accident in Miami late Monday night.
The accident occurred when a car hit a bicyclist, causing the bicyclist to catapult off his bicycle and off the bridge, falling 50 feet below into the intracoastal waterway. The bicyclist was found dead by Miami Fire Rescue crews about two hours after the accident occurred. The accident occurred at approximately 11 p.m. when a car driven by Eltrisa McDaniel swerved to avoid another car. Her car then struck a retaining wall on the side of the road, and then the bicyclist. The force of the impact caused the bike and the bike rider over the railing and into the water.
And if bicycle riders didn’t have enough to worry about just riding on South Florida’s roadways, now they must contend with safety issues on their bicycles. The problem with Trek bicycles is a faulty front wheel quick release lever that can loosen while riding. The quick release lever can then get jammed into the front disc brake assembly, bringing the bicycle to an abrubt halt. The problem is similar to taking a wood stick and pushing it into the spokes of a front wheel while the bicycle is rolling – with the result a violent halt in motion causing the rider to be thrown over the front of the bicycle. One rider of a Trek bicycle with this problem was paralyzed.
The recall covers bicycles manufactured by Trek since 1999. Trek’s website indicates any bicycle equipped with disc brakes and a front quick release lever that can open beyond 180 degrees is being recalled. In exchange, Trek is offering to replace the quick release lever, and $20 gift certificate for your bicycle. However, despite many Trek bikes costing over $1,000, this “generous” gift certificate offer by Trek expires at the end of this year. It remains to be seen whether this recall will result in a class action lawsuit against Trek. There are now 988,000 consumers who have paid their hard earned money for a Trek bicycle, that are now left holding damaged goods.