You\’ve seen them, the athletes. They have nice modern cars, with two to four bikes on the roof. It is not dangerous. What the driver of such a car has to take into account is certain limitations.Putting wheels on the roof of a car is dangerous and a thought. You may have witnessed a situation, as I have, where one car with a bicycle on the roof has taken off its wheels, left the car, and gone on its way.
What surprised me then was how kinetic energy works. The wheel jumped off the car, bounced a couple of times on the road, and then started running parallel to the car, away from the roof, at an almost constant speed. After a few dozen meters, it veered slightly to the left, resulting in a change in trajectory in the opposite direction; both cars successfully avoided this accident, and after about another one, the bike ended its journey in a ditch, where it rolled in a strange manner.
It worked then. But others involved in similar accidents were not so lucky. Wheels off the roof of a car initially move at the same speed. On the highway, that is 130 kilometers per hour. Because there is no braking, that speed is maintained for a long time. It is a very dangerous situation. There are known cases of serious damage to cars and serious injuries. It is the result of human stupidity and laziness.
What I mean is that many people secure their wheels to the wheel carrier without making sure that the carrier\’s claws are securely engaged. Many shorter drivers have a big enough problem just getting the wheels on the roof. It is understandable that the brackets can be difficult to handle and potentially debilitating, but that is no reason to give up on securing the wheels securely. They should realize that they are taking on a lot of risk. Perhaps even life-threatening. A cyclist riding the wrong way in the oncoming lane could startle an oncoming driver sufficiently to pull the steering wheel of that vehicle directly into the path of your car.
So secure your wheels carefully. Press firmly on the bracket pawl to make sure there is no play. Then secure the wheel itself to the rack with the special straps. After driving for a while, you should stop and check the strength of the wheel attachment. This is because they may have loosened a little while driving.
.