Another local to me road fatality. PA
 

Hate to post and see these posts. The news report is a little conflicting as they say that the cyclist collided with the truck and then later say that the truck collided with the cyclist. Either way, the rider lost his life.

Bicyclist fatally struck in Monroe Township - abc27 WHTM

Stay safe out there folks!

Horrible. Sunny day, straight road. No reason at all for the truck to hit the bike. It was pretty windy yesterday; I wonder if a gust pushed the rider into the side of the truck.

Maybe a wind gust and the suck from the truck pulled him in. In that situation, the truck might have been passing too closely.

More photos here: Bicyclist killed in collision with tanker truck | Cumberland - WGAL Home

When the fatalities are local, and right on your commute route... you really sit up and wonder.

Several years ago there was a local fatality on my commute route, police cruiser hit a cyclist and killed him. That really took my breath away... I saw the cruiser with the window smashed in on my way to work. No report ever did say exactly what happened... I always find that annoying.

It is easy to put the blame on the cyclist, when he is dead.
Not that there couldn't have been some shared responsibility, the truth will never be known.

In another thread, someone was questioning why Pennsylvania has a 4 feet law. In have no doubt that if the truck had followed the four feet law this crash would not have happened.

Just a couple of miles from me. How sad.

That stretch of road can be difficult. Fast traffic on the road the cyclist was on. And I always worry that someone at one of the many crossroads with stop signs will just pull into traffic. I would guess that is what happened here, but they have not said anything yet.

jim

Yes, it's tough not knowing what the situation was. I think this may be a case of the truck pulling out from a stop sign or a left hook while the cyclist crested the hill at speed. I have had uncomfortable situations like that. I also used to commute on 74 from Lewisberry to York and it's a tough road for bicyclists all the way due to vehicle speed and intersections.

You should be proud of that commute. Distance, hills, dangerous traffic. My hat is off to you.

I am a sometimes commuter from Carlisle to Shippensburg, which is a cakewalk.

jim

Even in still air, the wedge of wind the front of a large truck causes can push a bike sideways. Then the rider overcompensates to recover. Hitting the side is classic for a close pass by a large truck. If it's windy, things are worse, because a truck can cut off a cross wind that the cyclist is leaning into, causing a swerve. The crosswind effect is bad enough to cause problems even for cars, and certainly motorcycles, which is why they're often restricted from bridges in NY when winds are high.

BTW - a truck doesn't have to hit the bike, and the rider doesn't have to hit the truck. The effect of a close pass can cause a cyclist to veer off the road onto the shoulder. When he recovers, he hits the burm, and it's like trolley tracks, causing the cyclist to fall into the road.

Back when I used to lead youth cycling trips,this was one of the top causes of crashes, with or without a truck. Cyclist goes off the burm, and falls when trying to get back onto the road. Note, this is especially bad because the cyclist will ALWAYS fall into the road rather than away from it.

Safely handling the burm was a routine part of pre-ride briefings.

BTW- nothing I posted should be read as meaning I think the driver did anything wrong, short of not being aware of the effect of his windage. It's very possible with plenty of room (over 5' mandated by PA law) and still have the same effect. I'll leave the assignment of responsibility to those on scene. This is just to say that the cyclist hitting the side of truck doesn't clearly point to either party being at fault.

My condolences to the family of the deceased cyclist.