Cycling Death in SA

HughMann said:

From todays Australian page 6.

Cyclist dragged for 50m.

A 32 year old cyclist was killed on Saturday after being hit from behind in the dark by a semi trailer and dragged 50m along the Dukes Highway near Bordertown in South Australia.
The cyclist from the nearby town of Naracorte, was not wearing a helmet and had no lights on the bike.

Snip......

the man was riding east in the middle of the road

Snip

( among other things) Superintendent McFarlane said
" all road users , particularly cyclists need to be careful of other road users"

............................................

Apparently the mans injuries were horrific. The description of these may have affected the thought processes of the police officer when he made the above incongruous statement, or maybe its just poor reporting or out of context. Or perhaps I am over reacting by thinking that he said that cyclist need to be careful of damaging semis.

Sympathies to the mans family, friends and to the rescue workers who have had to deal with the aftermath.

Not going near other recent media stories. Not appropriate here.

Hugh

any idea what time of day/night this happened?

im not sure the Oz helmet safety standards include the allowance to repel a semi-trailer at speed.

HughMann said:

The cyclist from the nearby town of Naracorte, was not wearing a
helmet and had no lights on the bike.
the man was riding east in the middle of the road

Quoted message said:

( among other things) Superintendent McFarlane said
" all road users , particularly cyclists need to be careful of other
road users"

Quoted message said:

Apparently the mans injuries were horrific. The description of these
may have affected the thought processes of the police officer when he
made the above incongruous statement, or maybe its just poor reporting
or out of context. Or perhaps I am over reacting by thinking that he
said that cyclist need to be careful of damaging semis.

Sympathies to the mans family, friends and to the rescue workers who
have had to deal with the aftermath.

Agree with the sympathies but really, riding down the middle of the Duke
highway at night with no lights? I feel sympathy for the semi driver.

Theo

flyingdutch said:

any idea what time of day/night this happened?

im not sure the Oz helmet safety standards include the allowance to repel a semi-trailer at speed.

Article doesnt say time just that it was "in the dark" and that he had borrowed the bike to go and visit a relative.

HughMann said:

Article doesnt say time just that it was "in the dark" and that he had borrowed the bike to go and visit a relative.

yeah, sympathies for his rellies but as Theo said, pretty irresponsible/naive...

HughMann said:

From todays Australian page 6.

Cyclist dragged for 50m.

A 32 year old cyclist was killed on Saturday after being hit from behind in the dark by a semi trailer and dragged 50m along the Dukes Highway near Bordertown in South Australia.
The cyclist from the nearby town of Naracorte, was not wearing a helmet and had no lights on the bike.

Snip......

the man was riding east in the middle of the road

Snip

( among other things) Superintendent McFarlane said
" all road users , particularly cyclists need to be careful of other road users"

............................................

Apparently the mans injuries were horrific. The description of these may have affected the thought processes of the police officer when he made the above incongruous statement, or maybe its just poor reporting or out of context. Or perhaps I am over reacting by thinking that he said that cyclist need to be careful of damaging semis.

Sympathies to the mans family, friends and to the rescue workers who have had to deal with the aftermath.

Not going near other recent media stories. Not appropriate here.

Hugh

riding in the middle of the road, in the dark, with no lights ?? I know we need to share the roads, but that is kind of courting danger isn't it ??

maybe that is what the officer was referring to, just not worded appropriately......

guess we dont know if it was someone training or someone trying to get home from a big night out at the local pub ?

flyingdutch said:

yeah, sympathies for his rellies but as Theo said, pretty irresponsible/naive...

Most definately agree, and of course, the semi driver didnt need this intrusion into his life.

Reminds me of the line from the now cult movie " The Last Picture Show" when one of the boys who is intelectually challenged gets run over while sweeping the main road in the middle of a dust storm. Truck Driver: " what was that darn kid doing in the middle of the road anyhow?" Other kid: " he was sweeping mister, just sweeping"

HughMann said:

From todays Australian page 6.

Cyclist dragged for 50m.

A 32 year old cyclist was killed on Saturday after being hit from
behind in the dark by a semi trailer and dragged 50m along the Dukes
Highway near Bordertown in South Australia.
The cyclist from the nearby town of Naracorte, was not wearing a helmet
and had no lights on the bike.

Snip......

the man was riding east in the middle of the road

At night, no lights, middle of highway?

Did they do a blood-alcohol test on the deceased rider?

HughMann said:

From todays Australian page 6.

Cyclist dragged for 50m.

A 32 year old cyclist was killed on Saturday after being hit from
behind in the dark by a semi trailer and dragged 50m along the Dukes
Highway near Bordertown in South Australia.
The cyclist from the nearby town of Naracorte, was not wearing a helmet
and had no lights on the bike.

Snip......

the man was riding east in the middle of the road

At night, no lights, middle of highway?

Did they do a blood-alcohol test on the deceased rider?

HughMann said:

flyingdutch said:

any idea what time of day/night this happened?

im not sure the Oz helmet safety standards include the allowance to
repel a semi-trailer at speed.

Article doesnt say time just that it was "in the dark" and that he had
borrowed the bike to go and visit a relative.

News.com.au says it was around 6am

It's exactly this sort of accident that leads drivers to believe we are all
idiots. Unfortunate and extremely sad, but one more point for drivers to
harp on about.

--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying
"HughMann" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

From todays Australian page 6.

Cyclist dragged for 50m.

A 32 year old cyclist was killed on Saturday after being hit from
behind in the dark by a semi trailer and dragged 50m along the Dukes
Highway near Bordertown in South Australia.
The cyclist from the nearby town of Naracorte, was not wearing a helmet
and had no lights on the bike.

Snip......

the man was riding east in the middle of the road

Snip

( among other things) Superintendent McFarlane said
" all road users , particularly cyclists need to be careful of other
road users"

...........................................

Apparently the mans injuries were horrific. The description of these
may have affected the thought processes of the police officer when he
made the above incongruous statement, or maybe its just poor reporting
or out of context. Or perhaps I am over reacting by thinking that he
said that cyclist need to be careful of damaging semis.

Sympathies to the mans family, friends and to the rescue workers who
have had to deal with the aftermath.

Not going near other recent media stories. Not appropriate here.

Hugh

--
HughMann

News item here:

Cyclist dies after being dragged 50m
news.com.au0,10117,16183325 1246,00.htmlOpen ↗

Bean Long said:

It's exactly this sort of accident that leads drivers to believe we are all
idiots. Unfortunate and extremely sad, but one more point for drivers to
harp on about.

Ja, and this is a bit of a cultural problem with a.b too. There's an
implicit belief here that anyone who rides is on the side of the
"good".
George Bush rides a bicycle sometimes!

Fact is, there's idiots who ride bikes too. Sometimes they end
up dead. It's not always the car/truck/train/side of mountain's fault.
I'm not saying that the poor sod who got trashed by the truck is an
idiot
or deserves to be dead, but it sounds like it wasn't the fault of
the trucky. Still ... if the only witness is the truckdriver, who
knows what really happened?

Tamyka Bell said:

It's tragic to have people die so stupidly. I think it's called Natural
Selection...

Well, at least there's no shortage of people on the planet. It'd be
more tragic if the last female cheetah was run over by a semi :-)

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

The statement in the article in the Australian that concerns me the most (bearing in mind the first paragraph that said the cyclist was hit from behind) is from the local Supt of Police who is quoted as saying, "How can you miss seeing a truck - they are lit up so well."

I guess you miss seeing it when it comes up behind you at speed.

I hope the polisman made the statement before he knew all the circumstances.

Tragedy for all concerned.

SteveA

SteveA said:

The statement in the article in the Australian that concerns me the most
(bearing in mind the first paragraph that said the cyclist was hit from
behind) is from the local Supt of Police who is quoted as saying, "How
can you miss seeing a truck - they are lit up so well."

I guess you miss seeing it when it comes up behind you at speed.

Indeed. I find that that size of a vehicle doesn't necessarily indicate how
audible it will be, either, especially in an already noisy environment.

Modern buses are extremely quiet when coasting, and so are many
trucks; I often notice that a bus is right behind me only when
the driver plants his foot or brakes, or I see its shadow.

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

Michael Warner said:

SteveA said:

The statement in the article in the Australian that concerns me the most
(bearing in mind the first paragraph that said the cyclist was hit from
behind) is from the local Supt of Police who is quoted as saying, "How
can you miss seeing a truck - they are lit up so well."

I guess you miss seeing it when it comes up behind you at speed.

Indeed. I find that that size of a vehicle doesn't necessarily indicate how
audible it will be, either, especially in an already noisy environment.

Modern buses are extremely quiet when coasting, and so are many
trucks; I often notice that a bus is right behind me only when
the driver plants his foot or brakes, or I see its shadow.

And while I'd like to say something along the lines of "if you're riding
without lights, it's kind of up to you to make sure nothing's coming
that isn't going to see you" (like when I run and get caught in the
dark)... we're really missing a lot of info, aren't we? I mean, if the
guy got dragged and his body was such a mess, how do we know there's not
a few small flashers lying out there, or in a driver's pocket? Back to
the other side... "How can a person driving a truck with it's headlights
on, miss seeing a dude on a bike in front?" As for the media harping on
the no helmet thing... um, I don't think a helmet would've helped him
much.

Tam

Michael Warner said:

SteveA said:

The statement in the article in the Australian that concerns me the most
(bearing in mind the first paragraph that said the cyclist was hit from
behind) is from the local Supt of Police who is quoted as saying, "How
can you miss seeing a truck - they are lit up so well."

I guess you miss seeing it when it comes up behind you at speed.

Indeed. I find that that size of a vehicle doesn't necessarily indicate how
audible it will be, either, especially in an already noisy environment.

Modern buses are extremely quiet when coasting, and so are many
trucks; I often notice that a bus is right behind me only when
the driver plants his foot or brakes, or I see its shadow.

And while I'd like to say something along the lines of "if you're riding
without lights, it's kind of up to you to make sure nothing's coming
that isn't going to see you" (like when I run and get caught in the
dark)... we're really missing a lot of info, aren't we? I mean, if the
guy got dragged and his body was such a mess, how do we know there's not
a few small flashers lying out there, or in a driver's pocket? Back to
the other side... "How can a person driving a truck with it's headlights
on, miss seeing a dude on a bike in front?" As for the media harping on
the no helmet thing... um, I don't think a helmet would've helped him
much.

Tam

Tamyka Bell said:

Michael Warner said:

SteveA said:

The statement in the article in the Australian that concerns me the most
(bearing in mind the first paragraph that said the cyclist was hit from
behind) is from the local Supt of Police who is quoted as saying, "How
can you miss seeing a truck - they are lit up so well."

I guess you miss seeing it when it comes up behind you at speed.

Indeed. I find that that size of a vehicle doesn't necessarily indicate how
audible it will be, either, especially in an already noisy environment.

Modern buses are extremely quiet when coasting, and so are many
trucks; I often notice that a bus is right behind me only when
the driver plants his foot or brakes, or I see its shadow.

And while I'd like to say something along the lines of "if you're riding
without lights, it's kind of up to you to make sure nothing's coming
that isn't going to see you" (like when I run and get caught in the
dark)... we're really missing a lot of info, aren't we? I mean, if the
guy got dragged and his body was such a mess, how do we know there's not
a few small flashers lying out there, or in a driver's pocket? Back to
the other side... "How can a person driving a truck with it's headlights
on, miss seeing a dude on a bike in front?" As for the media harping on
the no helmet thing... um, I don't think a helmet would've helped him
much.

Tam

Slightly off topic. I met a guy once who had been run over by a leopard
Main Battle Tank. It had backed over him. YOu cannot fault the driver
he could not possibly have seen anything although the TC clearly had
screwed up. THe bloke I met hadnt heard it coming.. they are far queter
than most would believe, like a big and well muffled tractor (which
essentially is what they are)

It was soft soil and the track passed over his head. The leopard has a
very low pressure footprint and maybe his head was in a particulary soft
bit of ground. Anyway he survived looking ok but blinded. He had only
been in for a few weeks.. didnt even know enough to look for tanks.

WHat impressed me was that I met him cos some army mates were going in
to visit him. THey had only known him for that few weeks but years
later visited regulary.

Tamyka Bell said:

Michael Warner said:

SteveA said:

The statement in the article in the Australian that concerns me the most
(bearing in mind the first paragraph that said the cyclist was hit from
behind) is from the local Supt of Police who is quoted as saying, "How
can you miss seeing a truck - they are lit up so well."

I guess you miss seeing it when it comes up behind you at speed.

Indeed. I find that that size of a vehicle doesn't necessarily indicate how
audible it will be, either, especially in an already noisy environment.

Modern buses are extremely quiet when coasting, and so are many
trucks; I often notice that a bus is right behind me only when
the driver plants his foot or brakes, or I see its shadow.

And while I'd like to say something along the lines of "if you're riding
without lights, it's kind of up to you to make sure nothing's coming
that isn't going to see you" (like when I run and get caught in the
dark)... we're really missing a lot of info, aren't we? I mean, if the
guy got dragged and his body was such a mess, how do we know there's not
a few small flashers lying out there, or in a driver's pocket? Back to
the other side... "How can a person driving a truck with it's headlights
on, miss seeing a dude on a bike in front?" As for the media harping on
the no helmet thing... um, I don't think a helmet would've helped him
much.

Tam

Slightly off topic. I met a guy once who had been run over by a leopard
Main Battle Tank. It had backed over him. YOu cannot fault the driver
he could not possibly have seen anything although the TC clearly had
screwed up. THe bloke I met hadnt heard it coming.. they are far queter
than most would believe, like a big and well muffled tractor (which
essentially is what they are)

It was soft soil and the track passed over his head. The leopard has a
very low pressure footprint and maybe his head was in a particulary soft
bit of ground. Anyway he survived looking ok but blinded. He had only
been in for a few weeks.. didnt even know enough to look for tanks.

WHat impressed me was that I met him cos some army mates were going in
to visit him. THey had only known him for that few weeks but years
later visited regulary.