Flying with elytra/riptide trident causes random damage or death to the player

When using riptide to fly through the air with an elytra you sometimes randomly take damage as if you crash into something despite there being nothing there

(this is not just a matter of blocks not loading in, there is nothing to hit even after waiting for it to load in).

What I expected to happen was...:
not take damage

What actually happened was...:
took damage

Steps to Reproduce:
Equip elytra
Hold riptide trident
set weather to rail
fly around using riptide to gain speed