A high heeled diamanté fashion boot that stuck on the footpeg caused a 29-year-old Polish woman to fatally crash her Yamaha, a British coroner has found.
A Dorset Coroner’s Court heard that Monika Kunda looked down as she struggled with her left foot and lost control of her Yamaha and crashed in Bournemouth in August 2018.
Coroner Brendan Allen said Monika appeared to have been fatally distracted by her boots.
“It is with the utmost importance that bikers wear appropriate clothing, no matter how short the journey and no matter how familiar the person is with it,” he says.
High heeled boots
There are many high-heeled and high-soled motorcycle boots on the market.
Many short riders wear these boots to give them extra length to touch the ground.
There is a wide range of these boots available, some with just a high heel and others with a high sole along the length of the sole.
The boots in this case had a “two-to-three inch chunky heel”, which would make them easy to get caught on the footpegs.
High-heeled boots are more of a fashion accessory. Boots with high soles may not be as easy to get caught in a footpeg.
Certainly, never wear stilettos when riding as these women are.
Short tips
If you are short, you might also consider modifying the suspension, getting a lower seat fitted or swapping to a motorcycle with a lower seat.
Check out our guide to motorcycle seat heights here.
There are also techniques for short riders to cope better.
Click here for our top 10 tips.
Our short riding mate, Brian, not only struggles with a height, but also a dicky knee which he has trouble bending.
But where there’s a will, there’s always a way as this video shows.