2021 Cycling fatalities

[g-boaf]

https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/news ... w9MQ%3D%3D

Cyclist dies after being hit by car - Quakers Hill

Saturday, 17 April 2021 06:16:49 PM

A cyclist has died after being hit by a car at Quakers Hills.

About 7am today (Saturday 17 April 2021), a group of cyclists was travelling along Quakers Road when one of the riders fell from his bike before being hit by a car.

The 55-year-old man died at the scene.

Officers from Quakers Hill Police Area Command established a crime scene and commenced an investigation into the incident.

Anyone who witnessed it, or the events leading up to it, is urged to contact police.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

That’s the same one we linked to and spoke about before. Very sad.

[jasonc]

Appears a cyclist has died in Brisbane on Mt Nebo with a stopped car this morning

[redsonic]

Appears a cyclist has died in Brisbane on Mt Nebo with a stopped car this morning

Yes, the Courier Mail is confirming his death, but behind a paywall for me. Apparently the car was stationary, and it happened at the intersection of Nebo & Mt Glorious Rds, which sounds weird as the cyclist would have been going uphill (unless the car was turning left onto Mt Glorious Rd, but why would it need to stop for a left turn)?

[Bunged Knee]

Appears a cyclist has died in Brisbane on Mt Nebo with a stopped car this morning

Yes, the Courier Mail is confirming his death, but behind a paywall for me. Apparently the car was stationary, and it happened at the intersection of Nebo & Mt Glorious Rds, which sounds weird as the cyclist would have been going uphill (unless the car was turning left onto Mt Glorious Rd, but why would it need to stop for a left turn)?

He was riding downhill probably at speed??

Report from https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/news/2021/0 ... ount-nebo/

[redsonic]

He was riding downhill probably at speed??

Report from https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/news/2021/0 ... ount-nebo/

Problem is, the only downhill approach to the intersection would have the car turning left ahead of the cyclist so why was the car stationary?
Unless the cyclist lost control and crashed into a car waiting on Glorious Rd.
However it happened, my condolences to all affected.

[jasonc]

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nation ... 57m4n.html

A cyclist died after his bicycle collided with a car on Mt Nebo, north-west of Brisbane, on Saturday morning.

The 31-year-old Coorparoo man died after the bicycle he was riding collided with a stationary car driven by a woman from north Brisbane.
The cyclist was riding downhill towards Samford, near the intersection of Mt Nebo Road and Mt Glorious Road, when he was seen “losing control of his bicycle”, a police spokesman said on Sunday.

“The driver of the car was travelling in the opposite direction and noticed he was losing control of the bike.
“She slowed down and stopped and it looks like the collision has taken place.”

Onlookers provided first aid until ambulance crews arrived, however the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The car’s 49-year-old driver was not physically injured.

The forensic crash unit is investigating.

Mt Nebo and Mt Glorious are popular scenic routes for cyclists and motorcyclists, with both groups hosting Facebook pages about road conditions.
One motorcyclists’ page reports Mt Nebo road conditions are very good, with some moist patches in the shade.

Police are seeking further information about the incident and anyone who can help has been encouraged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Policelink on 131 444.

[Mr Purple]

Being a 39yo from Coorparoo who does Nebo, that one's a little close to home.

Very hard to speculate about how it happened. But stopping your car because you see a cyclist 'losing control' seems a bit unusual. They might just be a very cautious driver, or they stopped the car in the middle of the intersection. There was some suggestion there was a puncture involved which might explain things.

Either way we just have to trust the police to investigate appropriately. And unfortunately it doesn't really make any difference now - rest in peace.

[AdelaidePeter]

Very hard to speculate about how it happened. But stopping your car because you see a cyclist 'losing control' seems a bit unusual.

I don't think that is unusual at all - that sounds like normal behaviour from an alert, cautious driver. Very sad if it inadvertently made the crash worse.

Either way we just have to trust the police to investigate appropriately. And unfortunately it doesn't really make any difference now - rest in peace.

Agreed. RIP, young man, and condolences to all who knew him.

[Mr Purple]

I think the concept of an 'alert, cautious driver' in Brisbane is what made it unusual.

[Thoglette]

I don't think that is unusual at all - that sounds like normal behaviour from

...an utterly clueless driver. I say that as it's happened to me twice in the last year or two.

Firstly a driver pulling out of a driveway stopping in the middle of the road having (finally) seen me - while having plenty of time to complete their action (or return to the driveway or park on the side of the road or whatever...)

Second, a driver stopping half way up a right turn lane as I was pulling in behind from a side road. Stopped dead in front of me (passenger door at my wheel), leaving me blocking a lane of (rather upset) rush hour traffic.

In both cases the driver was clearly unable to mentally process my existence and responded by shutting down & stopping where they were. Followed up by apologies in one case and abuse in the other.

[AdelaidePeter]

I don't think that is unusual at all - that sounds like normal behaviour from

...an utterly clueless driver. I say that as it's happened to me twice in the last year or two.

Obviously stopping in the path of a cyclist (or any other vehicle) is bad driving. But if the police report is to be believed, this driver was travelling in the *opposite* direction to the cyclist, i.e. they were approaching one another but on opposite sides of the road, and she saw the cyclist was losing control. I would say that stopping (ideally after getting as far left as possible) is the best response in that case.

[Thoglette]

But if the police report is to be believed,

Agree that there's a presumption of playing with a straight bat (& innocence) and running into a parked car at 60kph is likely to be fatal.

But we've also got a driver using the "he ran into my knife" defense, plus officers occasionally "don't get it right first time" (to be polite).

So we must wait for some independent witnesses or dashcam footage or at least some further explanation.

Tragic regardless.

[Retrobyte]

Obviously stopping in the path of a cyclist (or any other vehicle) is bad driving. But if the police report is to be believed, this driver was travelling in the *opposite* direction to the cyclist, i.e. they were approaching one another but on opposite sides of the road, and she saw the cyclist was losing control. I would say that stopping (ideally after getting as far left as possible) is the best response in that case.

I'm with you on this angle - if I was driving a car up a hill and saw a rider coming down the hill on the other side of the road start to get the speed wobbles (or maybe he had a medical incident, who knows?) I'd either pull over to make room as fast as I could, or I'd stop dead to make it easier for the cyclist to somehow take evasive action. If I keep driving up the hill, and we had a head on, that increases the momentum at impact, which is worse. Terrible situation obviously, but with only a couple of seconds to react, I'm not many of us would know for sure what we'd do if we were the driver. Easy to sit back in hindsight though and think it through

[robbo mcs]

Obviously stopping in the path of a cyclist (or any other vehicle) is bad driving. But if the police report is to be believed, this driver was travelling in the *opposite* direction to the cyclist, i.e. they were approaching one another but on opposite sides of the road, and she saw the cyclist was losing control. I would say that stopping (ideally after getting as far left as possible) is the best response in that case.

I'm with you on this angle - if I was driving a car up a hill and saw a rider coming down the hill on the other side of the road start to get the speed wobbles (or maybe he had a medical incident, who knows?) I'd either pull over to make room as fast as I could, or I'd stop dead to make it easier for the cyclist to somehow take evasive action. If I keep driving up the hill, and we had a head on, that increases the momentum at impact, which is worse. Terrible situation obviously, but with only a couple of seconds to react, I'm not many of us would know for sure what we'd do if we were the driver. Easy to sit back in hindsight though and think it through

This is absolutely spot on.

I don't understand the tone of some posts on this thread, which seem to have an undercurrent of trying to blame the driver. I get that we have to question the circumstances, with a degree of scepticism. However, sometimes we have to accept that tragically the cyclist was at fault. Losing control at speed, crossing onto the wrong side of the road and hitting a stationary car seems about as clear cut as it can be, sadly.

If the positions were reversed, and a car lost control at speed, crossed onto the wrong side of the road and hit a stationary cyclist, the same people would be completely outraged, and would not be questioning why the cyclist stopped when they were about to be cleaned up

[redsonic]

If the positions were reversed, and a car lost control at speed, crossed onto the wrong side of the road and hit a stationary cyclist, the same people would be completely outraged, and would not be questioning why the cyclist stopped when they were about to be cleaned up

I agree with what you have said, but with the proviso that it is always the driver who survives to tell their story, so a healthy dose of scepticism is in order until dash cam/ witness corroboration of the events.

[Mr Purple]

I agree.

This is a collision between a car and a bicycle at a T intersection, and the car driver is saying the position of their car had no contribution to the accident.

While it may well be true, I think you could understand why a few of us might be sceptical. We've all seen a few too many cases of 'the cyclist threw himself under my car'.

Having said that I have genuinely been in a car that was hit by a bicycle through no fault of the driver. We were ascending a narrow pass in Austria in an Audi S6 and despite driving very slowly and as far left as possible a cyclist lost it on a narrowing curve and bounced off our side window while we were stationary. Fortunately no-one injured and he waved us on, but I can see how this could possibly happen.

There may well be witnesses in this case and if the driver is indeed blameless I hope they are exonerated. Nothing brings the unfortunate rider back though.

[cogs19]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/eas ... 8688f4c36e

Text in case it is paywalled...

A BMX rider has died in hospital hours after a crash near a bowls club in Melbourne’s east.

Nunawading highway patrol police and emergency services were called to the accident at the intersection of Drummond and Logie streets, near the Oakleigh Bowling Club, at 7pm on Thursday.

Sgt Mark Wickman said police believed the man was from the Oakleigh area and were notifying his family.

Investigators believe the man was riding the BMX bike at speed on Logie St and was not wearing a helmet when struck by a car travelling south on Drummond St.

He was rushed to the The Alfred hospital but later died from his injuries.

The rider was described as slim, caucasian and aged in his 20s to 30s.

He was wearing dark clothing, a black cap, and white Puma shoes.

The driver stopped at the scene and has spoken to police.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

[jasonc]

https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/news/2021/0 ... -kilkivan/

Fatal cyclist crash, Kilkivan
myPolice on May 15, 2021 (AT) 3:23pm

A cyclist has died in a traffic crash on the Wide Bay Highway near Kilkivan this morning.

Initial investigations indicate around 10am a cyclist was travelling east approaching the intersection with Rossmore Road when the rider has veered into the path of vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

The rider, a 78-year-old New South Wales man, died at the scene.

The driver of the vehicle was not physically injured.

Forensic Crash Unit investigations continue

.

[Aus275]

Woolongabba yesterday afternoon. Cyclist and a bus, 20yr old passed away.

https://mypolice.page.link/ykUC

[Mr Purple]

Terrible news, and best wishes to the family of the poor guy.

Without speculating as to the cause of the accident, that whole area is very poorly designed and dangerous to cyclists. The only surprise was that it wasn't on the O'Keefe Street/Carl Street intersection which is a busy intersection on a busy bikeway with literally no provision for cyclists to cross safely.

What I have noticed is that on all of those bikeway/busway intersections is that the bike crossing invariably gets a red light. While this is clearly meant to make the cyclist press the button and wait for a green, what normally happens is they ride straight through because the bus default is also a red light.

While I understand the intention I think the better option might be to have a default cyclist 'green light' if the bus light is red. Because you can otherwise literally ride through the intersection thousands of times without once seeing a bus, which leads to the dangerous presumption that you'll never see one.

Having said that it could be entirely unrelated. But I'd be surprised if the intersection design wasn't a contributing factor.

[briztoon]

Terrible news, and best wishes to the family of the poor guy.

Without speculating as to the cause of the accident, that whole area is very poorly designed and dangerous to cyclists. The only surprise was that it wasn't on the O'Keefe Street/Carl Street intersection which is a busy intersection on a busy bikeway with literally no provision for cyclists to cross safely.

What I have noticed is that on all of those bikeway/busway intersections is that the bike crossing invariably gets a red light. While this is clearly meant to make the cyclist press the button and wait for a green, what normally happens is they ride straight through because the bus default is also a red light.

While I understand the intention I think the better option might be to have a default cyclist 'green light' if the bus light is red. Because you can otherwise literally ride through the intersection thousands of times without once seeing a bus, which leads to the dangerous presumption that you'll never see one.

Having said that it could be entirely unrelated. But I'd be surprised if the intersection design wasn't a contributing factor.

This is the intersection I mentioned in the crazy e-device thread a little while ago.

I use that intersection a lot coming off the Velo1, to cross the road and head down to the roundabout and Old Cleveland Road.

I can only ever remember one other cyclist stopping at that crossing, waiting for the pedestrian crossing light to turn green, with me.

Everyone else either rides straight down the footpath, across the busway exit, or rides across O’Keefe street after giving a cursory glance to see if there is any traffic.

[Mr Purple]

The problem is always going to be those 'generally safe but occasionally life threatening' intersections.

If you get a red light every time you approach it, but the previous 400 times it was perfectly safe to cross, your brain automatically presumes it will be safe this time. I think I'm a safe cyclist and I've caught my brain trying to kill me this way and in a very similar circumstances before.

The sad thing is, that technically anyone killed this way is placed entirely at fault for disregarding the signage on the intersection. However if I was going to design a psychological trap designed to lull people into a false sense of security and then kill them and blame them for it, I couldn't do it better.

The intersection of Archer Street and the Coronation Drive bikeway is another trap that's going to kill a cyclist eventually. For those that don't know it's a blind corner on a busy bikeway that traffic can both exit and enter, but rarely does. I've done it well over 400 times and seen a car once.

There is no way in the world it should be a through road for traffic - it provides access for a handful of houses and can easily be accessed through an intersection about 40m away. And yet it is; including construction site traffic currently. And when someone dies there there will be a great wringing of hands and talk about 'tragedy' before ultimately blaming the cyclist who died while disregarding the colossal failings of bikeway and road design.

[AdelaidePeter]

Tragically a cyclist died on Highway 1 north of Adelaide. SA Police report:

Major Crash Investigators are seeking witnesses to a fatal crash at Redhill yesterday. Just before 3pm Saturday 29 May, police were called to the Augusta Highway and Torrs Gap Road following a crash between a Ford van towing a trailer and a bicycle. Sadly, the cyclist, a 69-year-old Norton Summit man, died at the scene. The driver of the van, a 48-year-old man from Western Australia, was not injured during the crash.

And a tribute on 7 News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMYGxmtpUGA

[biker jk]

A cyclist was killed on the Central coast on Sunday. May he rest in peace.

A CYCLIST has died after colliding with a car on the Central Coast on Sunday.

About 1.30pm the cyclist and a Hyundai were travelling on Wilfred Barrett Drive, Magenta when the collision occurred.

The cyclist, a 72-year-old man, was treated at the scene by paramedics, before being airlifted to John Hunter Hospital where he later died.

The driver of the Hyundai, a 66-year-old woman, was not injured and underwent mandatory testing.

Tuggerah Lakes police established a crime scene and commenced an investigation into the incident.

A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/stor ... ral-coast/

[MichaelB]

I am shocked and sorry to have to start this thread only a few hours into the new year. Driver has been arrested. https://www.police.sa.gov.au/sa-police- ... ley-beach3 . I don't ride it myself, but this road is part of a popular seaside cycling route in Adelaide's north.

Police have arrested a driver after a fatal crash at Henley Beach earlier this morning.

Just before 7.30am on Friday 1 January emergency services were called to Seaview Road at Henley Beach following reports of a collision between a car and cyclist.

The 60-year-old Brighton man who was riding the bicycle died at the scene.

The driver of the car, a 51-year-old man from Grange, was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he was assessed. He was arrested a short time later and taken to the City Watch House where he was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and aggravated driving without due care. He will be granted bail to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court at a later date.

Seaview Road is currently closed between Reedie Street and Marlborough Street. Please avoid the area.

Condolences to the rider's family and friends

Just read in 'The Advertiser' this morning that Darren James White new info got filed in court to new /upgraded charge of "aggravated count of causing death by dangerous driving", which I think is in addition to the original "aggravated count of driving without due care".

Remains to be seen what the end verdict is though.