mcours2006

Cyclist has died following collision in North York - CityNews Toronto

I saw this on the news earlier today. No details other than what you see in the picture. Here's the exact location:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.75305...7i13312!8i6656

I don't know if this was at the bottom of a hill, but from the look of it it seems quite odd how this could happen. Also, it appeared that the van was parked at the time of the collision. It's a quiet residential area as well.

Bike looked like a mid/high end carbon bike as well.

More details to follow, I'm sure.

Rollfast

Ouch

Chris0516

Looking at the news link, it shows a van parked on that curve. Then comparing the Google Maps link to it. I can see how this could happen. Coming down to the cyclist not paying attention. Because, At the beginning of the curve. There is no visual obstruction that would have blocked the van from their view.

Rollfast

No matter how it happened, it's tragic. So sad for his family and friends.

Daniel4

That's my neighbourhood. I ride by there all the time usually in the day. Nothing unusual about the street. It's a typical neighbourhood street where when vans and pickups park on the street cars have to squeeze to the opposite side of the road to get through.

So I'm thinking the cyclist must be a fair weather cyclist taking advantage of the good weather and zipping along at a good speed. It was around 3pm when it happened.

Tragic.

Jim from Boston

Cyclist rear-ends van and dies???

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris0516

Looking at the news link, it shows a van parked on that curve. Then comparing the Google Maps link to it. I can see how this could happen.

Coming down to the cyclist not paying attention. Because at the beginning of the curve there is no visual obstruction that would have blocked the van from their view.

Dittos to all the regrets. I have previously posted:Hopefully approaching a curve would prompt me to remember the aphorism and keep my head up.

Daniel4

A commenter posted at March 21, 6:28 am in the article

"the van obviously stopped suddenly in front of him likely after overtaking at speed and reentering his lane"

Although, that's just speculation (just like my guess was), it would be a matter of an impatient driver passing and break-checking gone wrong.

mcours2006

If that's the case that's just awful. No way to know unless there were witnesses, though, unfortunately. Having a camera could help determine exactly what happened after the fact.

Condolences to his family.

Maelochs

No reason to think the van was moving just before the accident. It looks to be right up against the curb.

Of course, the van driver could have pulled over after the accident, but in that case I would expect the bike to be further back.

I hit a parked car once ... looking down to see if I was having some now-forgotten mechanical problem, looked up just in time to know it was too late.

I also (just once) was fumbling with my phone to turn off GPS, going about 6 mph, when a big white SUV rolled up, equally slowly. I saw it and moved, but I can easily see how a person with an electronic device could do what i almost did.

Sucks in any case.

bikecrate

Sad story.

Just this past weekend I saw the aftermath of a SUV that rear ended a large full size van that was parked on the side of the road. Since it was broad daylight I can only assume the SUV driver was not looking and plowed right into the van. Totally destroyed his front end. So I could see how this might have been the case with the cyclist as well.

Milton Keynes

And while I don't want to turn this thread into a helmet debate, it's very easy to see how someone could die from rear-ending a van if they didn't have a helmet on. Just hitting the van at, say, 10 MPH with an unhelmeted head would do some serious damage to the brain.

And no, I'm not saying they definitely would have survived with a helmet, either, but without one your chances are nil.

mcours2006

It also looks like there is 3% downhill for about 130 m before you get to the turn. Plenty of road for you to get your speed up where you could do damage.

jefnvk

Sad. Reminder to always keep your eyes on the road.

Merely speculation. I would think one would have to be paying almost no attention whatsoever to be passed by a vehicle and then run into it with a speed differential enough to kill themselves. I agree with the others that as close to the curb as it was, and as close to the bike as it was, it was likely parked and didn't just pull over.

The age is another factor I'd take into account, makes me wonder if a younger person would have survived, or at least have a better chance. Still no good to smack into a parked car.

79pmooney

There was a brakeless fix gear rider who plowed into the back of a van a few years ago and died, I think also in Toronto. (The van apparently hesitated before taking a left turn and took the rider by surprise.) I suspect the rider was in his 20s.

I suspect the playing field is pretty uniform, what with younger riders probably going enough faster to offset the youth advantage.

Ben

Daniel4

A couple of lessons:

1) wear a seatbelt. Many people still think it's safe not to wear a seatbelt in a slow moving vehicle. But if this cyclists died crashing into an immovable object at probably 10mph, so can any motorist or passenger going the same speed or faster can be killed smashing into a windshield, the steering column or the back of the front seats. Neil DeGrasse Tyson explained in a lecture an Olympic sprinter can do 100m in under 10seconds. That's 36km/hr or 22mph. That's fast for a bicycle. Imagine an Olympic sprinter sprinting into a brick wall.

2) Dooring can kill you. It should be a written violation with stiff penalties against any motorist or his passenger. Stay clear of the door zone even if it means entering car traffic.

Maelochs

You keep using this "10 mph" number but i cannot find any sources which indicate the speed of the collision.

Daniel4

It first appeared in post #12 which was quoted in post #14. It wasn't in the story. So he could have been moving faster or slower. When I'm riding through there I'm usually at a casual 10km/hr with my eyes on my mirror and looking all around.

Maelochs

Okay. I tend to average 15 mph (24 kph) or a little over and I am exceedingly slow. if I was zipping down a three-percent grade I might be doing 18-22 mph (29-36 kph.) most of the guys I ride with are older and much faster.

10 kph is six mph ... slow jog for people who can actually jog. I don't know anyone who rides that slowly except the elderly folk who circulate the neighborhood in the evening ... but they look plenty happy, so good enough, I guess.

I have no idea how fast this guy was going but f he was serious enough to think he needed a helmet ... . who knows.

02Giant 

With it being a van, a broken neck is possible.

mcours2006

+1. If it had been a sedan with a trunk he would have roll over it, probably suffering a concussion, and possibly broken limb.

mcours2006

With that bike and the 3% grade I very much doubt the cyclist was going at a 10 mph clip.

fietsbob

looking at their phone?

SHBR

Looking down, and not ahead is a recipe for disaster.

Hypno Toad

We witnessed a one-bike wreck a few years ago, rider was headed the opposite direction on the same road. Just as he passed me, I saw him swerve up onto the sidewalk at a driveway, then straight into a concrete bench. The sound of the CF bike slamming the bench was shockingly loud (broke the top tube & down tube), and the rider supermaned a good distance before belly-flopping on the sidewalk. We stopped to help him until a doctor stopped to assist. We didn't get a lot of info about the cause of the wreck from him, but my best guess is that his steerer tube sheared and he lost control of the bike. This is a possible cause for this collision too, higher end bike with CF steerer tube that's over-torqued or otherwise damaged. I hate to think of trying to control a bike in that situation.

For reference, here's an example of what happens when you steerer tube sheers:


Edit - re-examing the picture in the story, it appears the bars in the correct position... making my theory less likely.

SHBR

No way.

He didn't even glance at the van he hit.

No brakes, no swerving, this is operator error.