Gild, Ok so I just finished reading Cosmic Banditos and I must say that it was certainly another example of something.
kewl!
work has started on the movie
john cussack is the only confirmed casting so far
should be good
So, Iām bumping this thread, because Iām curious to see if there are any unicycle related deaths other than the one mentionedā¦
Statistically, a tandem is to unicycles. My ex wife and I were on a tandem one night when we ran over a rat.
Thatās only half a death per person then. Lame.
My wife took out a squirrel with her bike once. She was cruising down the bike path, and got stuck behind a āfamily groupā of five or more bikes that were making it hard to pass. Brilliant in its timing, a squirrel chose that moment to try to cross the trail, and got caught up in one of the familyās bikes, tossing it up into the air. It landed directly in front of Jacquieās bike, and she ran over the poor critter before she had a chance to react. Dead squirrel. 
As for people, I know of two unicyclists that committed suicide with a gun, but that shouldnāt count. We had a kid at the 2005 California MUni Weekend in Santa Barbara that fell down a cliff, but fortunately he did not die, and walked out under his own power, relatively uninjured.
I still canāt think of any (reliable) stories of people being killed while riding unicycles.
This could be the first documented death of a unicyclist hit and killed by a car while riding a unicycle. This is the same guy who had been arrested for riding naked.
Thatās really tragic. And the media upsets me in this article because they END the article with what a trouble maker he was, rather than the fact that he died obeying the laws and wearing a safety vest and using lights. Poor guy. This is why I donāt think itās fair that we are required to ride on the street, rather than on the sidewalk when available (from what I understand, this is the law in a lot of states, including Oregon and California).
Really? I thought, at least in California, that unicycles are not considered bicycles and, therefore, can legally ride on the sidewalks. Am I wrong?
- A bicycle is a device upon which any person may ride,
propelled exclusively by human power through a belt, chain, or gears,
and having one or more wheels. Persons riding bicycles are subject
to the provisions of this code specified in Sections 21200 and 21200.5.
Oh I thought it was established in that thread that unicyclists are not pedestrians. Idk Californiaās law then, sorry. IMO California isnāt very bike-friendly anyway, so I donāt ever ride on the streets. Itās just too dangerous.
You know itās pretty amazing that there are people out there who wish they could ride on sidewalks, when I (and presumably others) have to fight for the ability to ride on roads.
Not saying whether itās good or bad, just interesting.
As far as the story goes, yes itās too bad. Though itās legal, I try to avoid riding at night because I believe that itās far easier to be doing everything right, and still get run down.
I still canāt wrap my head around the riding naked thing. Why?
Oh, yes. I hope I didnāt give the impression that I think riding on streets should be illegal; rather I just think we should be allowed to ride on sidewalks as well. Especially those of us who donāt ride over 8 miles an hour on a regular basis (i.e., me). 
I also agree night riding can be REALLY sketchy, especially on roads.
Didnāt give that impression at all.
Seems like in many places, your are stuck with one or the other.
You mean you wouldnāt ride naked given the chance? 
As for the road vs. pavements thing. Yeah itās nuts, but it depends on lots of factors - if you ride 29/36ers a lot, riding on the road seems like a smart move, as youāre probably going too fast to be weaving in and out of pedestrians. I know that I hardly ever ride my 29er on pavements, only really if thereās a traffic jam, or Iām on one of those roads where drivers think itās OK to drive 2 inches from the curb. If I had a 36er (Or some other speed machine like a G29), I would probably never ride on the pavement. Iād feel like Iām causing too much danger to the pedestrians! That being said, you might live somewhere where the roads are full of dangerous drivers (or perceived to be), and so you feel safer on the pavement all the time.
On the flip-side, I always ride my small 24" wheel on the path. Itās just too slow for the road, and well, even pedalling at my fastest I never ride too fast to avoid people, and I can idle on it easily for crossings and stuff. To me, the smaller wheels are more like skateboards/scooters, theyāre toys as opposed to commuting vehicles (Yes I know plenty of people commute on boards!), so in my mind stay on the path.
Everyoneās different, and Iāve not even allowed for local laws (and whether or not theyāre harshly enforced) 
For example, Iāve asked my local police chief on the subject, and he told me that Iām allowed on the road given I have the same stuff as bikers require (reflectors, a method of stopping, lights at night), and yet Iāve never been pulled over for riding on the path either.
I go with a speed thingā¦ On my 24" muni or trials I ride on the sidewalk (unless itās very crowded, then I walk), but my 36" I wouldnāt even think of riding on the sidewalk. Besides, joggers pass me on sidewalksā¦
Last I looked, Quebec never defines what a ābicycleā is in the road code, so since a unicycle is not a bike, Iām safe (Murde Mental even beat a ticket in court here once). Ontario (where I used to live) actually states in that unicycles are considered a bike in regards to road usage, but I never had a problem unicycling there (granted, I only had a trials at the time).
Too bad about the āNaked Unicyclist.ā I read the article quickly, but got the impression that he was all legal and riding correctly when he was hit. Cycling on the street with traffic is always going to be a risk.
I think that any traffic laws that get created specifically for unicycles would generally be in the form of things we were officially not allowed to do.
I ride on the sidewalk sometimes, usually when going slow or in heavy traffic areas (like around my office). If Iām trying to get somewhere, like on my 36", Iām on the street, or occasionally on very empty sidewalks. I donāt do tons of street riding because, though you can trust most drivers most of the time, thatās about as good as it gets.
Iām sorry to update this thread. The number of unicycle related deaths has grown to two. Bruce Hall was his by a truck while riding on the road in New Zealand. Iāll copy and paste the article: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11903282
Unicyclist hit by truck in Onehunga was a loved rider, father and partner
A unicyclist who died after being hit by a truck in Onehunga yesterday was a loved father and partner.
Bruce Hall, 53 was a member of the Adventure Unicyclist group, whose exploits included riding through Laos, Vietnam and Uzbekistan with a group of fellow one-wheelers.
The groupās organiser and friend Ken Looi remembered Hall as quiet and cheerful, ājust a nice guy to be aroundā.
Looi said Hall was a determined long-distance rider, who would train up hills āuntil he felt sickā.
He recalled their trip down a Nepalese mountain, guided by sherpas in the middle of a snowstorm, Hall ill with altitude sickness.
āHe always pushed himself so hard we didnāt even think anything of it at first.ā
Looi was in the car yesterday when he heard over the radio a unicyclist had been hit.
āI thought it couldnāt be a unicyclist, it must have been a motorcyclist and I just heard wrong.ā
The unicycling community was tight-knit he said; his loss was upsetting and had been felt globally.
āIāve had emails from riders around the world expressing their condolences.ā
An Auckland rental consultant, Hall enjoyed the ābuzzā of touring with other unicyclists.
He was an experienced rider, with 14 years of unicycling under his belt and owned five unicycles.
Hall was set to take on the Alps to Ocean Trail, Central Otago Rail Trail, Roxburgh Gorge and Clutha Gold trail in November, and would be missed, Looi added.
The Serious Crash Unit was investigating after Hall, on his unicycle, and a truck collided on Saturday morning.
The two vehicles were travelling in the same direction when the crash happened, a police spokeswoman said.
Reviving this zombie thread because itās related to a recently discussed topic about worst injuries (and also related to my facetious thread about ālevelsā of UPDs from 1 (falling off and landing on your feet) to 6 (death).
Iām sorry to learn that at least two people have been killed while unicycling, but I think itās important to note (as was noted) that both were killed by someone driving a car or truck. So unless John Fossās story (told by JP Jenack) about the giraffe rider is correct, we have no documented case of a person dying because they were riding a unicycle and had a bad fall/crash. Iām not trying to diminish what happened to the two people who died while uniāing ā those were awful events ā but it wasnāt the unicycle that caused their deaths.
A French rider died 3 years ago because of a heart attack while riding muni. It is not due to a bad fall/crash, but the stress the uni riding put on his body was probably too important for himā¦ 
Wow, that stinks! But as you point out, his death wasnāt caused by a unicycle fall. Iām guessing that our sport has had a few concussions (I donāt know of any, but itās a fair bet), and I know of several broken bones and bad scrapes.