cazzooo

https://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009...ham_kille.html

Stray8

nelson249

The first comment the reporter makes is a discussion about whether she was wearing a helmet. Like that would have saved her after being hit by a Peterbilt. GRRR!!!

I feel so bad for her friends and family. It sounds like she was doing her level best to make this sorry world a better place.

cudak888 

"Cyclist killed driver?"

With a title line like that, I expected to read something about CM in here.

-Kurt

Cosmoline

I doubt he even noticed what had happened. That's not unusual given the relative sizes involved. Give semis a wide berth!

I think we can all agree that's one encounter where a helmet does absolutely nothing to help you.

randya

whoa! doosh bag in the house!

JonnyHK 

While we all see the Mini Cooper comment as a bit of an exaggeration, it is a fair comment that a large vehicle can run over something as large as a person and not realise it.

I have a heavy vehicle drivers licence and these big rigs buck, jolt, tug, pull, bump and rattle. The suspension can knock and buck the steering wheel in your hands.

It is quite believable that the driver did know he had hit that girl. It might not excuse it, but it will make a hell of a lot of difference to what the cops charge (or don't charge) this guy with and how it plays out in court.

randya

If he didn't even know he hit her, the charges should be even greater, not lesser

randya

ddac banned

he should really change his user name from ddac to dbag

dynodonn 

Agree, we had an incident that involved a log loader runing over a small SUV and the operator had not realized it until someone had told him.



Use the semi truck in the foreground as a reference.

DX-MAN

I know everyone can't see everything, but it should be a given that when you are operating something that large, your vigilance should be ramped up about 50x.

And I'm about ready to pimp-slap the next 'journalist' who thinks it's pertinent to report whether or not a dead or critically injured cyclist was wearing a helmet -- the stainless in my shoulder is proof enough that that's not a cure-all... especially against 80,000 pounds of truck.

RIP, Sylvia; I never met you or knew you existed, but now I miss you.

Digital_Cowboy

Imagine IF one of those things were to run over either a bicyclist or a pedestrian. If it could run over a small SUV and not know it, what chance would a bicyclist or pedestrian have?

wheel

Irrelevant not the on road.

JonnyHK 

This is why I always found driving large vehicles very tiring!

Without knowing the details and road layout of this accident, it is reasonable to expect a driver to know the cyclist/pedestrian is there even if they can't see them. If you are coming up from behind you have plenty of time to see the cyclists through your windscreen before you get alongside them and they enter your blindspots.

So, if a driver comes up from behind a cyclist, overtakes (or partly overtakes) and then hooks them, the driver is at fault (in a criminal sense) even though the cyclist might not be visible at point of impact. This would be a hit and run.

However, if a driver is waiting or slowed for an intersection and a cyclist approaches from behind and enters the blindspots, then the driver has a huge mitigating factor if the impact then occurs in the same spot. The driver may in this case not know it has happened. This is not a hit and run.

It's easy for armchair commentators to make wide/bold statements, but reality is so much more 'grey' than that. Let's see if the police charge this driver with anything before judging it, but no matter what happens to the driver, don't forget that blame does not bring back this cyclist.

hairnet

]gem

ItsJustMe

Totally agree with this. I think everyone should have to drive a large truck around a closed course at least once to see what the driver has to keep track of, and how really bad their visibility is. Having driven some large trucks in my life, I do NOT get into the truck's blind spot even in a car, let alone on a bike, if there's a chance the truck is going to turn, and I keep an eagle eye on him and am ready to brake or change lanes if he starts to move sideways.

dynodonn 

Maybe so, just trying to point out that a driver's road feel sensations are considerably lessened as the vehicle gets larger and heavier, and they have to rely more on visual cues.

Stray8

I heard of a situation in Georgia where one of the Coca-Cola tractor trailers sideswiped and ran over a cyclist with it's rear wheels near the bottling plant without the driver realizing it.


.

The Human Car

A truck drivers testimony in court:

"My thought is, when 1 pass a grown person - whether it be a lady or a man - I have no thought of trying to protect her . . . . I mean, once I started passing her, I felt it would be her obligation to allow me around her."

randya

just sayin'...

JonnyHK 

You are BOTH correct!

Learning how to drive a truck made me a much better car driver (and more respectful of large vehicles). Being a cyclist has made be a better driver (more aware of cyclists and what they can do).

My personal experience is that the truck gives me greater personal safety at the expense of awareness of the situation. Conversely, on a bicycle I have a brilliant awareness of the situation, but alas very little personal safety.