Slight engineering mishap

As I was editing this fine Bank Holiday Monday, I received a panicked call from Mrs. Ottawacker to come and pick up the plum of our loins from a street not too far away. He had, she said, had a mishap on his bike... 

"Yes, of course, I said, happily. "What's happened?"
"His handlebars have come off," she said.

So off I go. When I get there, I find that the handlebars haven't exactly "come off", they have "sheared off". Like just snapped off. I mean how the frig does that happen?

So if you are the manufacturer of the Arashi Adventurer J3, let me just tell you that your bikes are really shite. In fact, they arashite. This could have happened anywhere. On a road, for example, when he was being overtaken by a car. On a bike path when he was going faster than he should. It could have caused a really serious accident.

Anyway, it didn't, and I put the bike out in the garbage the moment we came home. It's worth not skimping on bike check ups at the start of each year.