Advocacy & Safety - Cyclist killed by street sweeper

http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Bicyclist-Struck-Killed-by-Street-Sweeper-in/TnYTWTlWp0We03brUgDH4g.cspx

CLAIREMONT - The name of a 44-year-old bicyclist who was killed when he was struck by a street sweeper driven by a dozing 77-year-old driver was released Sunday.

Suntat Peverley, of Mira Mesa, was riding his bicycle southbound in a bike lane on Genesee Avenue near Clairemont Mesa Boulevard Drive in the bike lane, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

A 77-year-old man driving a street sweeper in the same direction fell asleep, veered into the bike lane and struck Peverley from the rear at 5:20p.m. Friday, San Diego Police Officer David Stafford said.

Stafford said Peverley was flung off his bike and into the pavement, causing major head trauma.

Peverley was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla where he was diagnosed with multiple blunt force injuries, including skull fractures and massive brain damage, according to the coroner's report.

He was placed on life support in the hospital's intensive care unit and was pronounced dead 10:45 p.m. Friday, according to the report.

Alcohol was not a factor and Peverley was wearing a helmet, according to police.

I can imagine that the high speed brushes on a street sweeper launched the poor fellow with more than sufficient force to negate whatever cushion his helmet could provide. I really hope the street sweeper driver is charged with vehicular manslaughter. The driver may be elderly but, a life has been taken through negligence and, justice needs to be served.

Regrets to the cyclist family.

This sucks.

In December, a FG rider is killed in Hawaii at a location I regularly ride and now this story about a cyclist killed on the road I was riding at the end of a tour and visiting my son in September.

I am starting to think the grim reaper is getting a little too close.

I can imagine that the high speed brushes on a street sweeper launched the poor fellow with more than sufficient force to negate whatever cushion his helmet could provide. I really hope the street sweeper driver is charged with vehicular manslaughter. The driver may be elderly but, a life has been taken through negligence and, justice needs to be served.

I'd assume the impact would be similar to that of any car that size, doubt the brushes would do anything to be honest, and a helmet can't really help you in that situation either way.

Does anyone wonder what 77yr.-old was doing behind the wheel of a government(or government contracted) maintenance vehicle in the first place?

Regrets to the cyclist family.
I am starting to think the grim SWeaper is getting a little too close.

FTFY.

That is one sad, undignified death. Condolences go out to his family.

The reports are that it was a private sweeper used for parking lots.

Does anyone wonder what 77yr.-old was doing behind the wheel of a government(or government contracted) maintenance vehicle in the first place?

There are 77 year olds who are quite capable of running a street sweeper. Let's not go down the everyone must retire at 65 path on this...

There are 77 year olds who are quite capable of running a street sweeper. Let's not go down the everyone must retire at 65 path on this...

He probably wanted to retire, and watched all his funds disappear from his savings just a year or two earlier. Lots of folks near retirement age are now having to work longer to recover their 401K and other savings due to the recent down turn in the economy.

I'd assume the impact would be similar to that of any car that size, doubt the brushes would do anything to be honest, and a helmet can't really help you in that situation either way.

Street sweepers aren't that fast. I think the victim was thrown by the brushes rather than the typical impact one would expect with the body of a vehicle.

You're right thought, this isn't the kind of collision that a typical bicycle helmet alone could ever expect to provide sufficient protection against.

There are 77 year olds who are quite capable of running a street sweeper. Let's not go down the everyone must retire at 65 path on this...

I am not focusing on the man's employability, outright. What I am focusing on is, the higher incidence of traffic accidents, as one get's older. That is why auto insurance rates go up as a person gets older.

He probably wanted to retire, and watched all his funds disappear from his savings just a year or two earlier. Lots of folks near retirement age are now having to work longer to recover their 401K and other savings due to the recent down turn in the economy.

If he retired at 65 he would have already been out when the economy tanked.

If he retired at 65 he would have already been out when the economy tanked.

And living on his retirement savings, which means he was totally dependent on investments. You don't actually have a pool of money that you draw from, you usually have dividend paying investments that pay dividends back into your accounts and you live off the results. If those investments crashed, you now have just a fraction of the funds and you may be drawing off of principle, vice dividends... you will soon deplete your funds, and thus have a need to return to the workplace to supplement your savings.

Take a look around and notice many older folks are working at places like fast food, wally world and the like. My own investment manager's response to my suddenly halved retirement funds... "guess you'll have to work longer..." Rather crappy response, and really hard to swallow as you watch investment bankers get bonuses for reeking havoc on the economy and then walking away.

So the end result is that folks that perhaps are no longer suited for the work place are now having to take on jobs like driving street sweepers when they should be home napping.

sad news

Does anyone wonder what 77yr.-old was doing behind the wheel of a government(or government contracted) maintenance vehicle in the first place?

He was trying to make ends meet, no doubt.
A better, and more pertinent question might be why he fell asleep, if, in fact, this is the case.

77 seems old, but, hopefully, I would still be capable of operating a street sweeper at that age (it will descend upon us all if we are lucky enough to survive to that age).

We have the technology available to us now to prevent these sorts of accidents.

I yearn for the day when that technology is deployed system wide.

Caruso

The article says he was driving the street sweeper, not necessarily sweeping the street so he could have easily been doing the speed limit or greater. Street sweepers are capable of highway speeds when not operating as street sweeper.