Recently there was a story from the left coast about a recent fixed-Gear fatality.
http://72.52.139.208/story.php?sid=64590&storySection=Local&fromSearch=true&searchTerms=gregg
 I have some comments posted after the article.
Attention Fixers and others: Please note the following update passed along to us by a concerned customer, Tom O'Connor:

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       For me, the current fixed gear following is the third such cycle and most popular since I first took to the roads and pathways on my 1965 Gitane during bike boom one in the late 60's and early 70's.  it was the same minimalistic novelty then as it is now and was also during a smaller boom in the mid 80's.  I was introduced to the 'straight-kicker' (as my mentor called it) because it was simple and 'forced' one to spin in order to avoid coasting and laziness.  My trusty Gitane Piste was a real track bike onto which I squeezed a set of fenders and added a generator light, and front brake. Because of the ability to back-pedal, the rear wheel was under control, and the addition of a rear brake would be overkill and  often could induce skidding.

BRAKING FRONT AND REAR

     Front brakes, whether on bicycles, cars, or motorcycles, are the business brakes and do the greater portion of the stopping- up to 80 percent. This is evident in many ways. Motorcycles have larger, often dual, brakes on the front wheel. Four wheel motor vehicles have the more powerful brakes on the front and when getting serviced, it's noticeable that the front brakes usually wear faster and greater. Another proof is to lock the brakes on your bike (under controlled conditions) one at a time.  The rear will skid, the front will stop you. Why, then,  are we so often taught that the front brake is more dangerous?  Simply, it can throw the rider over the bars in an 'endo'
     The solution to safer stopping and speed control is to get to know your brakes and your body dynamics - especially in a panic stop. In the fundamentals of riding and safety classes I have been instructing for 35 years, I perform a graphic demo the first night when we do brakes. I ride across the classroom or parking lot three times at the same speed.
    In the first run of the demo, I apply the rear brake and skid for 15 or 20 feet. In the second run, i apply the front brake and lift myself into an endo as the class gasps and I go over up into the air or over the bars.
      In the third run I apply both brakes, mostly the front, and come to a controlled stop in one third the distance or less of the skid. I ask the class what they noticed. A few will correctly note that I lowered myself and slid a bit back on the saddle.
      Simple physics of weight distribution indicates that in a braking situation while moving forward, weight is increased on the front wheel, increasing the coefficient of ground friction while the rear wheel pressure to the ground decreases
     I encourage them to go out and practice - in  grass,  dirt,  gravel, and on pavement.

FIXING TO SPIN

       What about the notion that fixed gear riding will make you rounder and increase your ability to spin faster?
It's partially true. Mostly if you are the cyclist that is prone to coast often and don't have the discipline or training to keep the legs spinning and spinning faster to train yourself.
       Counter intuitively, a freewheeling multiple or single-speed set-up will do more for the spin, as it forces and encourages you to move your pedals around. In my training as a coach, we were made to ride one leg at a time for a mile, alternating legs every quarter mile. This is especially good to try on the rollers or trainer indoors. Indoor spinning exercisers and fixed gear bikes on indoor trainers or rollers have a flywheel effect that makes spinning easy by pulling your cranks around.
        Trainers with flywheels that are designed to 'smooth out the dead spots' with larger flywheels are very effective at doing just that. I always used a fixed gear track bike and even with moderate training was able to win several regional roller races, with spins up to 220, and in the day reached 240 on a fixed gear exercise bike. While this seemed impressive, the training effect was minimal compared to the one-leg-at-a-time training.On the freewheeling set up, I could barely hit 180.
        My Computrainer SpinScan tests were among the smoothest they had seen as a result of this freewheel, one-leg training. The ultimate training for smoothness is the ' Power Crank' system that features independent coasting between the two sides.

FIXED GEAR HISTORY and APPLICATIONS

     The idea goes back centuries. The original boneshaker bikes (like your three wheeler or big wheel kid's toy) had a driven front wheel and locked cranks. This is how you went forward and slowed down. The 'Ordinary' bike (aka 'Penny Farthing' or "High Wheel") bicycles are fixed gear. While many of these have a 'spoon' brake that rubs on the front wheel, the main stopping and slowing comes from back-pedaling. This must be planned and done with control to avoid the painful 'header'  because there is so little weight on the tiny back wheel, even locking that one up has little or no effect on slowing.  Fortunately, the high vantage point of the Ordinary allows a good view of conditions ahead for batter planning.
     Most early 'Safety' bikes (both wheels similar size, chain drive to rear wheel) were fixed gear, and several had a simple plunger friction brake on the front tire.
     Freewheeler and coaster brake safeties soon followed.
     TRACK RACING bikes have fixed gears and are far safer in the controlled environment of a closed course, often banked for greater speed and to help the non-coasting crank avoid cornering contact on pavement. Because the track bike operator can control the speed more precisely than the variable modulating rim, coaster, or disc brake might allow, riding a non fixed-gear bike on the track in a group is a recipe for disaster. It's amazing but true that even with minimal training one can hop in a pack of dozens of riders on a velodrome just centimeters apart and somehow avoid contact.
     Velodromes are completely closed and have no surprises like cross traffic or pedestrians.
     Time trialing on the road involves a similar controlled situation. Road marshals are usually placed at corners and intersections and track bikes (at least when I was participating) are allowed as long as they have a front brake.
     
CHANGING WAYS

    Though I have been riding brakeless fixed gear bikes on the road, racing Cat 2 on the track, and riding centuries on the ordinaries for over 35 years, I'm now thinking twice about adding a brake to my fixed gear bikes for roads and group rides.
     Last year I had a close call that was comical,  embarrassing and near tragic. I was minding my own business on a three lane road when I went to stop for a light from about 40kph. The rear sprocket unscrewed and I went uncontrollably toward the car in front. Miraculously, the chain wrapped around the rear hub and locked up the rear wheel . A thoughtful grab of the front tire helped avoid disaster and and after a 50 foot skid across the next lane in front of another car, I was safe on the curb and upright.
      Ruined a good tubular and a classic glove, but still had all my skin.