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news
Mark Cavendish abandons Abu Dhabi Tour.JPGRace car's automatic braking system sensors caused Cavendish crash, Abu Dhabi Tour organisers admit
The crash in the neutralised zone of the Abu Dhabi Tour that resulted in Mark Cavendish having to abandon today’s opening stage was caused by automatic brake sensors in the race director’s car, organisers have confirmed.
The 32-year-old sprinter sustained concussion and a whiplash injury in the crash, which happened after the car suddenly slowed, causing riders behind to brake.
The event is organised by RCS Sport – owners of the Giro d’Italia and Milan-San Remo among other races – with Mercedes providing the official vehicles.
Although Cavendish remounted his bike, he abandoned 5 kilometres into the stage and was taken to hospital for tests amid concern he may have damaged the shoulder he broke in a crash at last year’s Tour de France.
Following today’s opening stage, won by Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff, race director Stefano Allocchio said that riders were close to the car, which “has those sensors that caused it to brake. And it braked.
“Unfortunately, it’s one of these things,” he continued. “Tonight, we will talk to a mechanics to make sure they are deactivated. We don’t [want] to risk this happening again.”
He added that he intends to speak to Cavendish and Dimension Data’s management about the incident.
“We will see tonight,” he explained. “We are going to go find Cav and have a talk.”
According to a tweet from Cycling Tips journalist Caley Fretz, race vehicles at last month’s Santos Tour Down Under equipped with similar automatic braking systems had a warning reminding drivers to disengage the technology.
There was a little warning in the cars at the Tour Down Under reminding drivers to turn the auto-brake feature off.
— Caley Fretz (@CaleyFretz) February 21, 2018
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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16 comments
A little OT, but there's an ad on tv at the moment: kid keeps falling over/crashing/getting injured/breaking things all through childhood; his father reluctantly gets in a new car with his now grown-up accident prone child, who proceeds to drives at speed and nearly runs someone over except that the car has whizzy semi-automatic braking with sensors which saves the pedestrian's life. Is it me, or the message of that advert not exactly as positive as the car company thinks? That bloke clearly shouldn't have ever passed their driving test...
Bonus points to the first cyclist on the roads in a city who can suddenly swerve from bike lane infront of a new car and cause it to brake suddenly and have a chain of tailgaters run into each other... I can just imagine how that one will come out in the tabloids
The 'punishment stop/brake' has now been computerised! The future is.......??
I've driven in loads of race convoys and the golden rule is that you always turn off all the auto shite. Self dipping headlights, auto / rain sensing wipers, any form of auto start/stop...
Pain in the arse on a lot of modern cars. I drove one that kept flashing up reminders that lane change sensors were turned off. The car was getting confused because I was often driving across two lanes or on the wrong side of the road and the car didn't like it at all.
AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking)
https://www.euroncap.com/en/vehicle-safety/the-rewards-explained/autonom...
Mercedes Benz version CPA (Collision Prevention Assist)
http://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/video/COLLISION-PREVE...
From the footage it's hard to see what triggered it as nothing appeared to be in front of the car when it happened. Perhaps the latest versions are also sensitive to objects close to the sides as well, the motorcycle outriders where close to the side of the car at the time.
I think Cav needs stabilisers, he’s been falling off a lot lately
Was this just a reflex reaction to seeing the name Cavendish, or did you actually make a conscious decision to write this?
For a lot of people those two things are virtually indistinguishable.
The article has been fixed now and balance restored to the universe.
My work here is done.
No Crampy, it was not the ABS that activated, it was the automatic brake system that activated, when the car 'saw' the bikes close in front. This won't be the last time semi-autonomous vehicles cause problems for cyclists.
it was dumb of the car driver not to disable the system, something which can be done (at the moment) with semi-autonomous systems, but not ABS brakes.
You can on mine!
</pedant>
Screen Shot 2018-02-21 at 21.03.21.png
You should turn off abs in deep-ish snow, sand, or gravel.
And on the track.
I rather think that was the point Crampy was trying to make...
ABS stands for anti-lock braking system, normally. The headline is a wee bit confusing.
I think you'll find it stands for "antiblockiersystem", but that's not what the headline says. RTFA.