Here's the intersection:
Eastlake and Fuhrman
I know the area well - I used to go to UW just to the north of University bridge and I came through this intersection all the time from the University bridge, turning left onto Fuhrman.
It sounds like a right hook, with the cyclist to the right of the garbage truck and the truck gunning it on a right turn from eastlake to fuhrman. I very much doubt that this has much to do with fixies. It is more to do with inattentive drivers - I can imagine that the garbage man was late to on his route through the neighborhoods on Fuhrman and was driving a bit more recklessly than usual - combined with overly agressive cyclists. I'm glad they marked the deaths of those riders. It will serve as a reminder for all road users to try to be as defensive and attentive as possible.
And I very much doubt a helmet would have helped here either. My $.02.
1... 2... 3... Full A&S scrum!!!
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --
the tiniest sprinter