Evidently, big rig trucks don’t have wing mirrors anymore.
Because for the third time this week, someone in Southern California has been killed riding a bicycle. And it’s only Wednesday.
And this time, the victim is getting the blame.
According to San Diego’s City News Service, posted by 10 News, the victim “rode his bicycle into a big rig” after getting right hooked by the driver in the city’s Otay Mesa neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.
The victim was riding south on Otay Center Drive next to a semi-truck stopped at the red light at Siempre Viva Road around 2:17 pm. When the light turned green, the 38-year old driver turned right onto Siempre Viva, while the victim — identified only as a 59-year old man — attempted to continue straight on Otay Center.
So if the victim rode into the big rig, it’s only because the driver turned right directly in from of him, causing him to crash into the truck’s right front wheel. Which means he had to be directly next to the truck at the red light, and should have been visible to the driver.
Not “traveling behind the truck,” as FOX5 reports. If that was the case, it’s more likely he would been run over by the rear of the truck as it turned.
Not surprisingly, the victim was declared dead at the scene.
Unfortunately, there’s no bike lane or other infrastructure on the street that might have protected the victim, or at least alerted the driver to look for someone on a bike.
Most cars these days have safety systems to alert the driver to the presence of another vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian. Even my wife’s car, which does not have automatic braking or other alert systems, has a camera that’s activated whenever she uses the right turn signal, to alert her when there’s someone or something to her right before she turns.
Why one of the most dangerous vehicles on the road wouldn’t have something like that is anyone’s guess.
And yes, it’s dangerous to ride alongside any big rig, and you should never come up from behind as a truck is turning, or likely to.
But it’s hard to imagine why the victim shouldn’t have been visible in the driver’s wing mirror, or how he could have run into the truck’s front wheel if he ridden up from behind as the driver was turning.
It’s easy to imagine, though, that only one person involved in the crash was still around afterward to give their side of the story to the cops.
This is at least the 40th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the seventh we know about in San Diego County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
