Disco Stu

https://themavesite.com/wp/cyclist-ge...-tanker-truck/

SnowCYYCling

Holy crap. What was that dust from, braking? Because it sure didn't stop and just kept driving.

TrojanHorse

Where the eff did that truck come from and where the eff did he think he was going?

And here I thought drivers in the US were nuts... I think that place wins.

I have to remember not to read comments... the video was posted by "Video Funny" too.

BoSoxYacht

They were very lucky. My wreck was far worse.

velociraptor

Video was removed

So, what happened?

CliffordK

Here is the video in case the first link isn't working.

https://themavesite.com/wp/cyclist-ge...-tanker-truck/
Cyclist hit by tanker truck so violent accident! - Video Dailymotion

I must say that is just wicked.

I can say that I would avoid roads like that as much as possible... and if I was on it, I would be much more careful in the lane crossing, probably holding all the way right until I could cut across the exit to the safety island.

The road has a poor design for bicycles. Here is a photo of the crash site from the video clip, and my crash analysis.



The tanker in red is in the right most lane.
The lane continues as a 3 lane road, with simply white markings delineating the turn lane and continuation lane.

The bikes are in the path marked in blue, which puts them in the middle of the traffic. They don't hold tight to the island (if they had, it would have been a much worse accident). Crash is at the red X.

The rider in blue must have known that some vehicles cut through intersection because he signals that he is moving right, but he never seems to turn his head (I don't see a mirror, but perhaps he had one, did he use it?) Even if he had looked, it would be difficult to determine whether a vehicle is turning or going straight.

If I had to be on the road, I would have probably taken the path in green, and might have stopped for the exit crossing. Anyway, it appears as if the rider in blue took a heavy hit (broken leg?), but survived.

bikecrate

I guess that happened in Russia. Type in Russian Dash Cams in a YouTube search if you want to see some real harrowing video. Not that the U.S. would fair much better if we started using dash cams too. Those cyclist were lucky, it could have been much worse.

SpeshulEd 

Why bother looking over your shoulder when you cross lanes of traffic, just signal and hope for the best.

chaadster

Phew, that's hard to watch... But yeah, I'm surprised the cyclist didn't veer away when he realized it was truck. He was probably scared and held his line, but a freak-out may have been apropos to the moment.

Disco Stu

Thank you

seymour1910

This shouldn't be a laughing matter, but am I the only person that noticed how much the guy on the De Rosa was worried about his bike before his friend....lol....The first guy just put his bike on the closest curb. The guy with the De Rosa was careful and took his time finding a nice spot.

Ben I.

Glad he's okay but not completely the drivers fault. Had he looked over his shoulder before moving over he would have seen the truck coming up. That being said, clearly a very large part of the blame lies with the truck driver since the bicycle lane is clearly marked and they obviously had to move over or be in the middle of the highway. Thankfully, the cyclist didn't pulled under the truck and only got "nicked" by it, sort of. One very lucky guy and kudos to his friends to act so quickly in getting him off the road and other motorists for stopping too.

thump55

This.

Maybe he was one of those "anti-earbud" guys that thought he could hear traffic with the wind blowing in his ear.

SpeshulEd 

I literally lol'd at this.

Also, who rides their bike on a highway, anyway?!

Agent Cooper

That's exactly what my first reaction was.

Why are they riding on what looks to me like a multi-lane 55+mph highway?

Bikes are banned from the interstates where I live. For good reason!

cderalow

My guess would be dust build up in the small area that is supposed to delineate that the right most lane is turn only/an island.

Black wallnut 

I'm glad this is not the case where I live. Our rural interstates offer some fine cycling routes, although loud at times. Much wider shoulders than 2 lane county and state roads.

CliffordK

The camera guy did look back... before retrieving the bike, but yes, it did look like an eternity for him to place the bike on the curb.

There is no "bike lane". The bikes were riding on a busy highway one lane over from the edge of the road (see blue line on my drawing).

It is a "turn lane" that continues straight as a 3rd highway lane, only divided by two lane stripes. The paint looks pretty good, but I wonder if quite a few trucks make that cutoff, as it could be a pain to merge left, only to merge right again.

Obviously the rider should have looked, rather than just weakly signalling his move, but on a busy highway, it would be hard to differentiate vehicles that were legally turning vs illegally and not expected to go straight.

In slow-mo, he does seem to bounce along the side of the truck a few times, but there may have been a bit of a vortex behind the truck, and it may be difficult to rapidly correct for the trailer wheels coming up FAST. It was all over in an instant.

I certainly don't consider someone getting hurt as funny.

I've ridden on the Freeway here, although I haven't done it for quite some time. Sometimes the routes are such that there are no great alternatives. It is perfectly legal here.

As mentioned, I would hug the shoulder, and cut across the turn lane at the last moment (green in my drawing). I hate situations where cars pass on both my right and left, especially at high speeds.

Loveless4577

+1.....he took his sweet time getting over there. Had to make sure his bike was properly placed.

CliffordK

Absolutely... one has to carefully place the water bottle against the concrete to protect the bike... The friend should be able to fend for himself in the middle of the road with 55+ MPH traffic.

Velo Vol 

Looks like the truck didn't even slow down after contact.

indyfabz

Plenty of people do. Personally, I have ridden on I-90 in MT three times (every inch of Interstate Highway in MT is open to bikes), I-94 in ND, I-84 in OR (virtually all of I-84 in OR is open to bikes) and I-80 in WY, not to mention numerous U.S. Highways, some of which were divided with limited access. I also rode the equivalent of an Interstate Highway heading towards Sevilla, Spain. In the case of I-84, I-94, one stretch of I-90 and I-80, they were the only paved options available.

It's not always as crazy as you might imagine. The stretch of I-94 in ND was empty at 7 a.m. The stretch of I-80 in WY, which is part of Adventure Cycling's Trans Am route, was also not very busy the morning I rode it. The biggest PITA about Interstate riding can be the shoulder debris. Got to watch for things like shredded tire treads and hub caps. However, the shoulder is often wide enough that you can easily steer around them while remaining on the shoulder.

thump55

Awwww...look everyone...the new guy still has feelings.

(I kid, I kid.)


Maybe we only joke because we know that just like that guy in the video, we are out there day after day, putting our lives on the line around 3000 pound death machines and could be killed at any time and laughing is the only way we can saddle up and go back out there tomorrow.

(Yes, kidding again)

FBinNY 

I didn't see any signage (and wouldn't have been able to read it anyway) bug based on pavement markings the right land was an "exit only" lane, and the truck driver violated the rules of the road by merging back left over barrier stripes. He was clearly in the wrong, and if caught in the US would not only have been civilly liable (or the truck owner), but on a single conviction of that violation could have faced a suspension or loss of his CDL.

I don't blame the road design or the rider. Exit only lanes, or added lanes forward of an exit ramp are SOP, and the rider had cleared the approach and was past the exit and back in the right lane of the roadway when the truck essentially passed on the shoulder.

SpeshulEd 

Ya know, thinking about this again, you're allowed to ride between Sedona and Flagstaff on I-17 in Northern AZ. Still, I think if I was riding on a major interstate highway where people are averaging speeds above 80mph, I'd look over my shoulder before cutting across lanes.

And I'm not laughing, I AM calling the guy a moron for not looking over his shoulder before crossing a lane of traffic. It's too bad the truck was in the wrong lane and never slowed down, but the guy on the bike failed to do a number of things right in this situation.