Vancouver cyclist hit by pickup truck carrying overhanging load on Sea to Sky

[verticaldoug]

As Ron White said it in his comedy routine: "You can't fix stupid"

[GregL]

Sadly, stupidity of this type happens all too often. Verticaldoug nailed it. My wife saw this incident happen at an intersection near our home:



Greg

[redir]

The load was probably overhanging the right side of the bed but when he hit the cyclist at 80Kmh it was pushed back.

He very well may had even said to himself, "I'll just be real careful." But something like that defies human behavior. It's like putting a kettle of water on and going to do something else and then you totally forget there is water boiling on your stove.

That's why you simply NEVER do stuff like that.

It's amazing that guy survived. And this is always one of my biggest fears. A friend of a friend of mine was killed when an RV passed him and they had forgot to put the stairs (or something like that) up fully and the first step was hanging out into the bike lane.

[tuxbailey]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

Only theory I have heard that makes sense at all was that he didn't know the load had shifted. OTOH, mirrors.

I just can't imagine any decent driver cannot tell that the load had shifted. They look quite heavy.

Also look like they didn't tie down the front part.

[Red Tornado]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

That load must have been over the cab of the truck originally instead of over the tailgate. It clearly wasn’t secured properly either. As somebody with a pick up and who frequently hauls lumber and tools this is ridiculous.

As stated above these full cab short box trucks are not suitable for hauling things when those doing so do not have a clue how to use them. It is literally impossible not to notice six to eight feet of lumber hanging off the side of your truck bed. Especially when it slid off of the roof first. The driver must have been inebriated or high to keep driving like that.


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I'm wondering if the load was strapped to the headache rack. I'm guessing not. If that was me I would have secured into the bed and again where it hung over the headache rack with ratchet straps. Judging from the top profile of the HR on this truck, I'd say that's one of the reasons it was installed. As long as the load is, he could have also had some straps on the front going down to the bumper, maybe, if it hung over the cab far enough. If he had it going over the roof, would have had to hit a pretty good bump to clear the HR. I'm surprised the load didn't come completely off the truck.

Mirrors? We don't need no stinkin' mirrors! The guy was probably checking his phone...

[William]

Originally Posted by Red Tornado

I'm wondering if the load was strapped to the headache rack. I'm guessing not. If that was me I would have secured into the bed and again where it hung over the headache rack with ratchet straps. Judging from the top profile of the HR on this truck, I'd say that's one of the reasons it was installed. As long as the load is, he could have also had some straps on the front going down to the bumper, maybe, if it hung over the cab far enough. If he had it going over the roof, would have had to hit a pretty good bump to clear the HR. I'm surprised the load didn't come completely off the truck.

Mirrors? We don't need no stinkin' mirrors! The guy was probably checking his phone...

Looking at that picture that was my first thought. Must have been up over the rack and either the tie downs came off or he forgot to strap it down. The wind at hiway speeds could cause it to bounce and shift off the rack. But, then again, there are a few really dumb people in this world.





W.

[William]

Originally Posted by GregL

Sadly, stupidity of this type happens all too often. Verticaldoug nailed it. My wife saw this incident happen at an intersection near our home:



Greg

I saw something similar happen in the indusrial section of Portland near the Freemont bridge. Guy driving one of those trucks with a giant cherry picker on it. For some reason he left it extended, got in and started driving. It was warm out so the door to our shop was open and I happened to come out just as he was driving by. I saw the cherry picker and immediately started yelling at him to stop but the next fraction of a second later he hit the power lines and sparks started showing as I dived back into the shop door.

Crazy people!!






W.

[Rusty Luggs]

I don't see that there is any safe way that vehicle could carry that load, period.

[Hilltopperny]

My truck has a regular bed and I just transported 25 12’x12” boards two days ago. Strapped to the bed both bottom and top. Hanging off the tailgate with a flag at the end with zero issues. They clearly must not of strapped to front of these boards, but I still cannot believe they didn’t notice or feel them hanging off the side of the truck!


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[ultraman6970]

The dude made it alive? WOW man... im speechless.

[2LeftCleats]

Any word on charges against the driver?

[carpediemracing]

I was riding in way-the-heck-northern Maine one year. Very little traffic. I read about a cyclist that got hit.

Ends up a truck hauling a trailer with a enormous mower tractor thing hit him. The tractor thing had arms that came down to mow - it would clear a swath a good 30 feet wide. Well, on the right side the 8 or 10 foot arm fell down, driver didn't realize, and took the cyclist's legs out (and partially off, if I recall correctly). The driver stopped immediately etc and it seemed he was extremely remorseful etc but still a nasty accident. When I was riding I kept my eye out back for trailers/things with things sticking out.

[m_sasso]

Here some further news on condition and charges https://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2007889

[tuxbailey]

Originally Posted by carpediemracing

I was riding in way-the-heck-northern Maine one year. Very little traffic. I read about a cyclist that got hit.

Ends up a truck hauling a trailer with a enormous mower tractor thing hit him. The tractor thing had arms that came down to mow - it would clear a swath a good 30 feet wide. Well, on the right side the 8 or 10 foot arm fell down, driver didn't realize, and took the cyclist's legs out (and partially off, if I recall correctly). The driver stopped immediately etc and it seemed he was extremely remorseful etc but still a nasty accident. When I was riding I kept my eye out back for trailers/things with things sticking out.

This is nightmare inducing stuff.

[reuben]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

Here some further news on condition and charges https://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2007889

The driver is facing $484 in fines? Assuming CAD, that's ridiculous. We'll have to see if additional charges are filed.