Police: Bicyclist struck, killed in Russellville semi accident

Discussion in 'Trucking Accidents' started by OldHasBeen, May 23, 2014.

  1. Studebaker Hawk

    Studebaker Hawk Road Train Member

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    I don't know who was at fault in this case, I have full confidence in the authorities to make that determination.
    What I want to address is the notion mentioned that bicycles should be banned from our "highways and byways".
    As a bicyclist who does 3500 miles per year on those roads who also has 3 million plus safe miles in a tractor trailer, need I remind anyone that trucks don't own the road. Pedestrians, bicyclists and the grandma driving slower than the speed limit also get a piece of that real estate. If you are the professional you claim to be these additional variables in your driving day can be accomodated safely.
    To ban entire classes of citizens from using a public thorofare because they present a "safety" threat when really the desire is to get to some destination without a delay of a few minutes is absurd and the height of arrogance.
     
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  3. OldHasBeen

    OldHasBeen Road Train Member

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    Sometimes they get it right, yet they do not all the time.

    I have seen accidents that took place & the one who was at fault was a local dignitary, & the fault was placed on the innocent one, in fact I know of about 5 local wrecks that trued out that way, with one of them including two deaths. In that instant the owner of a wrecker services was also a volunteer deputy sheriff, Although everyone knew the weekend deputy sheriff in his wrecker ran the car off the highway killing two people he got off scott free.

    I also once witness a a wreck between a 18 wheeler & a pickup pulling a trailer loaded with 4 X 16 foot Styrofoam insulation about 12 foot high with no lights on the trailer. The State Trooper was the uncle of the woman driving the pickup, guess who was place at fault having to pay a big fine.

    So no, they do get it wrong many times on purpose. It happens a lot. especially when one is a well know hometown person, & the other one is from another state, perhaps across the country.

    Be careful out there, even if you have the right-a-way on a bicycle, if you tangle with a car, pickup, or 18 wheeler, your likely to be on the bad very bad, maybe deadly situation.

    And when you have a speed limit of even say 55 MPH on a two lane highway, & your riding a bicycle at a very slow speed, things can happen very fast, with the car, pickup, or 18 wheeler having rightly done no wrong, yet leave the bicycle rider badly hurt, or even dead.

    It can happen of a city street too.

    Oh, no matter what I was driving, I always tried to be careful, even when I had the right-a-way. Many have been in bad wrecks, some dead, some seriously injured just because they knew they had the right-of-way refusing to give an inch.
     
  4. EZX1100

    EZX1100 Road Train Member

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    we ban horses, and other non-motorized vehicles from major roads for a reason

    and it has nothing to do with arrogance, it has to do with prudent behavior

    i also rode bikes and hated having to negotiate with motor vehicles, and felt bikes should have a bike lane or a pedestrian lane

    a bike is riding at a closer speed to a walking pedestrian than to a motor vehicle, yet the pedestrian public insists bikes ride on the highway

    sadly, bikes fit in the middle and as a result, they have been relegated to roadways where they are no match for speeding metal objects

    the arrogance here is to demand the laws of physics being trumped by your "right" to be on the same road as 65-70mph vehicles

    i am not saying they should be banned, but they should use common sense

    but i also rode motorcycles for quite some time in my life and for the life of me, i cannot understand motorcycles who ride on the highway slower than the flow of traffic
     
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  5. gpsman

    gpsman Road Train Member

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    I missed the opportunity to see that diagram, somehow...

    "...the semi was attempting to make a right turn onto East Parkway Drive, and struck Hood when he entered the Parkway crosswalk traveling southbound."

    Seems to me that describes circumstances where both must have been SB. http://goo.gl/maps/aSXqr

    Seems to me it might be harder/less likely to "enter a crosswalk" from the road rather than the sidewalk, not to mention running over him while making a R when he "entered the crosswalk".

    If he was traveling NB when he "entered the crosswalk" he'd have had to been on the S side of E. Parkway, 30-40' distant, and in full view, "face-to-face" with motorists traveling SB.

    A comment in this report indicates the deceased was "disabled", but still... "safety conscious".
    http://www.katv.com/story/25605197/name-of-bicyclist-killed-in-crash-is-released

    Seems it might be unlikely he was riding the wrong way on any of those streets. I think he was just "disabled", not stumbling drunk and/or insane.
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2014
  6. Studebaker Hawk

    Studebaker Hawk Road Train Member

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    Last time I checked, bicycles were not allowed on limited access high speed (55-75 mph) highways, nor do I advocate allowing them. The obstacles presenting themselves to any driver, but particularly truck drivers doing 100k + miles per year are endless. On a rural highway in farm country it might be a slow moving tractor, in wooded Michigan it might be a deer, another highway it might be a broken down motorist, in Lancaster county PA it could be an Amish buggy. Just because the speed limit is X does not mean it is safe to do so. You are required to maintain control of your vehicle at all times. Something on the road in front of you? Slow down. Think of all the move over laws on the books in almost all states. Passed in direct response to drivers not respecting others using a public highway
    The law is clearly on the side of the bicyclist in most states. The public has spoken on the issue.
    What is really boils down to is the attitude that bicycle use is a frivolous activity that truckdrivers (and lots of 4 wheelers) deem a burden on their time getting to their destination. The logical extentionof this is the 18 wheeler who tailgates some one because he's "gotta go." There is a reason the public overwhelmingly has a negative attitude towards trucking.
     
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  7. daf105paccar

    daf105paccar Road Train Member

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    I think that traffic should be a compulsary course in school,should start at a young age.
    But i doubt it would have hepled in this case.

    RIP,i hope he did not suffer.

    And if the driver is a decent person,he will have to live with it for the rest off his days.
    No winners in this.
     
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  8. daf105paccar

    daf105paccar Road Train Member

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    @ Oldhasbeen,you know we both take part in that manual vs automatic debate in another thread.

    This is one off those situations where i know (from driving one for more then 7y) that a automatic is safer.
    You need not spend any taught on shifting and can "move" in your seat to see better the traffic around you.
    I know people will claim they shift without thinking but there is brainactivity involved with a manual.
    I will say that i don't claim it would have avoided this accident.
     
  9. OldHasBeen

    OldHasBeen Road Train Member

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    That is actually true, & the manual is safer. I want go any further being as that's off topic under this topic.
     
  10. Mrs T

    Mrs T Road Train Member

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    I am a bicyclist who rides the five miles to work as we just don't earn enough for me to drive.
    I ride in the road as the sidewalks are all beat up, and don't get plowed.
    And they don't run continuously either, they stop and start.

    I have done this for over thirty years.
    The most ignorant traffic by far is those moms driving their kids to school, (the crash test mommies), who should never be in charge of any vehicle bigger than a stroller.

    REAL bicyclists have lights, reflective gear and all that, AND know how to share the road.

    I can't comment on this accident as I was not there, but I do know that REAL drivers know how to share the road.
    Those drivers wanting to get rid of bicyclists should rethink their own attitude.
     
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  11. OldHasBeen

    OldHasBeen Road Train Member

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    Always remember one thing going up against a car, pickup truck, or an 18 wheeler, even if you have the right-away, you will lose if your hit by them. That is why I've always been very careful at any & every intersection, & have given the right-a-way to many who did not have it. Doing so saved me many headaches, hospital recovery time, while continuing on my way. I rode with the same attitude during all of my motorcycle riding days.

    Its not attitude, its safety, safety for everyone, its not safe for a bicycle going very slow to be on the road with cars, trucks, that are going at greater speeds.
     
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