Electric Motorcyclist killed after being struck by recycling truck

*snickers*

"recycling truck" notwithstanding, nothing funny about it...

Motor scooter or motorcycle collisions with a car are one thing, but even a very low speed collision with a truck or bus is deadly because you will likely get knocked down and run over - so these must be avoided with every bit of defensive riding skill you got.

More info here. It was a electric bicycle, not a motorcycle.

Mr. Nardella was fairly prominent business person in the Waterloo area.

They have had an exceptionally snowy winter up there this year - tall snowbanks really restricted the visibility - don't know if it was a factor or not, but those aren't condition's I'd be riding a two wheel vehicle in.

He was literally turning into, or out of his driveway when it happened.

http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWorld/article/323326

I definetly don't think there is anything funny about this.
I have experience driving large trucks (armored trucks) and you have to drive especially cautious around fast motorist such as cyclist or motorcycles, because they will zoom out of no where. Large trucks and box trucks etc have a lot of blind-spots that sometimes inexperienced drivers are not aware of.
As a former Officer-----Nothin' funny about it because it could be you.

"Nothin' funny about it because it could be you."

And I expect everyone else to laugh when it is. :p

I don't think death is funny, but I do think the circumstances of the event are funny or at lease worth a small chuckle.

Chas S.

Taking Reikiman's disposition and background (the hint is in his name), he's not going to be blunt enough I imagine to tell you LinkOfHyRule that your reply to the OP was really in bad taste. Where does it get you? You're simply not funny and it kinda points to poor intelligence on a number of levels, not least emotional. I can only assume that you were having an extremely off day or someone else has used your account and posted up such immature drivel?

Or your electric friend is driving you crazy like most of us!!

Anyway, one of US, a guy fervently living the electric transport ideal, was obviously killed today. 'RIP' and you've got to feel sorry for the driver of the truck, while we're on the subject.

Not getting at you, and no, none of us would be laughing if it was you. Strange perspective.

When you're in a hole, stop digging

To linkofhirool,

thank you for being the First to see humor in tradigy , ARE YOU A COMBAT VET ?????

check blob

and he was done with this life and it was time to move on to a new life.

I'd like to believe in some higher purpose.

"Birth in the physical is death in the spiritual. Death in the physical is the birth in the spiritual." - Edgar Cayce

RIP.

It takes a certain willingness to be damaged to decide to ride a two-wheeler.

That may be true, but I don't like to submit to odds or chance. I figure out how to be safe, and mostly it involves staying as far away from other vehicles as possible.

Reikiman wrote:

"As someone who has been in a couple dozen car accidents, two of which caused me to be strapped on a backboard in an ambulance"

What terrible luck!

I'm 51 and besides all the miles in cars I was a caver who would do climbs underground in all kind of exposed slippery muddy places that would terrify me nowadays. Also free rappels and ascents in pits as deep as 650 feet. Now I fly hang gliders.

Never more than a couple minor mishaps - so far.

The worst was a broken arm from a bicycle spill at 14 when a 3 speed hub popped out of gear while pedaling hard. Then, at 39, ditching a hang glider in a tiny field, requiring the use of a barbed-wire fence to bring me to a stop. I got some scars on my leg from that, but nothing bad.

I dumped each of our e-max's once. I hit a curb when not paying attention, and hit a slick wet spot while taking a curve too fast. Got some bruises and scrapes and learned my lessons.

I think the key to safety is to study the lessons learned from other's (and your own) accidents and close calls, and most importantly, keep a mental list of the key, genuinely deadly situations to avoid at all cost.

LinkOfHyrule wrote

And I expect everyone else to laugh when it is

Excuse Me?!! If you want me to get nasty then I can, but out of respect for the forum owner I will not.
I have personally been through a lot and almost lost my life twice in the line of duty.
So basically I have used 2 lives out 9, ya know the "nine lives" saying
Don't you DARE ever say something like that on the forum. Death is not a game and it's not funny.
So I think you have a little growing up to do my friend.
Being adult about this as I am; I am not angry but it's incredibly immature of you.

Watch your words your words become your thoughts, watch your thoughts your thoughts become your actions.
There is such a thing called "Karma" What comes around goes around, you can bet on it. :)

YOU, won't be laughing.

:)

Apparently God (or higher purpose) said that I should stick around, because there is much more work needed to be done.

It sure is nice to be able to practice a skill that I use constantly with all of the negativity, and turn into the positive light ;)
---Reiki Master

I hope this isn't TOO much of a thread drift, but...

An EV-related death brings up many thought to me. (stay with me, for just two minutes...)

Every major city has a "life-flight" helicopter than can rush emergency room victims to a state-of-the-art hospital, so a high percentage of crash victims survive. A small town might only have an on-call doctor, and the ambulance is a pick-up truck with a shell (don't laugh, I've seen this). Some small towns don't even have concrete sidewalks.

The difference? One town has very high taxes on everything, and the other has almost no property taxes. So, how much is life worth? Should people be ALLOWED to choose a less safe alternative to any aspect of their life?

A recent study I did for myself about actual vehicles that are good candidates for refurbishing as a good gas mileage performer netted the 1989+ fuel-injected Metro and Festiva (earlier has a complex and problematic computer controlled carb). Past a certain year, though, they are noticeably HEAVIER due to front and side impact DOT standards, and airbag requirements.

Small, light cars are intrinsically less safe than large heavy vehicles. Whether you are talking about an ICE or EV, weight and aerodynamics are two demons that must be wrestled with.

The 100-MPG 10-million-dollar "X-Prize" was announced recently, and my thoughts instantly went to what I could put together for $20K based on years of personal research on vehicles and their history.

Any new car would have to meet the new "heavy" DOT safety standards. And yet at the same time, I live in Utah, where I can drive a motorcycle at 75 MPH, WITH NO HELMET ! (short donor organ recipient list...I'm not joking, I actually met a man who moved here from California to get a kidney sooner).

Nobody here is promoting a heavy and large EV. Whether we are talking about a high-mileage ICE, or a sellable EV, we all seem to be talking about a small light car.

I understand that injuries due to moderate crashes can dramatically add to health care costs for society, but personally, I believe that we should be allowed to choose from less safe (lighter) options.

Hey Spinningmagnets I think I kinda agree with you on what you just said.
I also have some friends who are Paramedics and both him and his wife work on the life-flight helicopter for ER.

I am suprised that there are no (talks of) large heavy vehicle conversions for EV's also.
One thing though about the smaller lighter vehicles for conversions is that they are probably easier to convert (and less time consuming maybe?) than a large heavy vehicle.
Most smaller lighter vehicles and their body styles are plastic crash parts.
Nothing is made out of metal anymore except the larger heavier pick up trucks, even they have plastic crash parts.

75 Mph without a helmet????? otherwise you could be going on the life flight helicopter

spinningmagnets,

Is you point that US DOT safety crash worthiness standards have made highly efficient (IC or electric) vehicles unattainable?

I have wondered the same thing myself. How much of the problem is the manufacturers brainwashing the consumer into only feeling safe in a large vehicle with a lot of ground clearance, and how much of it is the DOT standards.

In Europe, many ordinary IC engine subcompact cars get better fuel economy than the US marketed Toyota Prius, and at somewhat lower cost.

What, exactly, is going on here? Why don't we have access to the alternatives that Europeans with their bad "socialistic" economic systems have?

hmmm check out these links

http://www.allsetcyclegear.com/dot-vs-snell/

http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/3044

http://www.mtclibraries.com/lib/resource_locate.php?id=rm20711

The VW "Lupo" is a lightweight diesel that is very similar to the early 1990's Geo Metro/Ford Festiva, and it gets about 80 MPG with a single average weight person who's trying to drive carefully.

It is in production right now, but is unselleable in the US due to more stringent crash-worthyness requirements (due to ridiculously large lawsuits that are capped in other countries). The "Tata" from India is little more than a 4-wheeled enclosed motorcycle. I can buy an old Citroen 2CV, and restore it as a classic car, but I cannot buy a new Lupo or Tata because of what opponents have referred to as the "Nanny-State". (I.E. I'm not allowed to buy a Tata, but I'm allowed to drive a 250 cc motorcycle on the freeway without a helmet in Utah at 75 MPH, and here they have 3-trailer "Freight-Train" trucks)

People, and the laws they produce, don't always make sense, and sometime are obviously philosophically contradictory. plus, throw in the immutable "Law of unintended consequenses" which was written on the "road of good intentions"...

Sometimes people die because they were not cautious, and sometimes its just an accident that nobody could have avoided. I am old and cynical, and my perspective is that everyone dies, its just a matter of when, where, and how. Should I be ALLOWED to make a less safe choice in order to get 80 MPG?

A loving mother says "don't touch the stove, its hot!", and your salty uncle says in private "OK, when you touch the stove, use the back of your left hand".

I'm your salty old uncle (who has lots of scars, and is missing a couple of fingers) who knows how to actually get things done...

For $20,000, I could get 100 MPG (X-prize) from a 1990ish Pontiac Firefly lithium hybrid (AWD Geo Metro from Canada) carrying two average adults, but it won't have airbags and side impact reinforcements. (Thanks, David, for the Basjoos Civic links)

I used to have a 1971 VW bus, and the bump next to my left knee was the headlight, so I wouldn't have survived a 45-MPH crash with a motorcycle...

What terrible luck!

I remember someone mentioning to Reikiman that he had "terrible luck" for all of the accidents he had been in. I find this hard to believe for example; When the accident happened when he was towing another vehicle. This was all due to the fact that another driver was out of control, that had nothing to do with that call scene when he was pulled over towing another vehicle. The Police Officer (And this gets me everytime, more like ticks me off) did not have his code lights on and he also left the scene without having another Officer atleast take over before he left. If I remember correctly Dispatch had advised the officer who was there to leave for another call. What Dispatch should have done was they should have asked if there was any other available officer for that scene. Due to the fact that it was at night. I think the officer who was there had his amber lights on this is because of the type of call that it was. This is why when I see a Police Officer or anyone on the side of the road including tow truck drivers, I get over to the next lane (doing so safely). If you are driving in the lane next to a police stop or anything of that nature you are likely to be caught in a crossfire.

Sometimes people die because they were not cautious, and sometimes its just an accident that nobody could have avoided

Exactly
A week after I quit working for Brinks, the armored car company. I wanted to return to work because I enjoyed doing what I did, I enjoyed being a driver and a messenger. I am glad I didn't return because a week after there was a route that went out in the morning. In the afternoon (Berkley California Wells Fargo branch) the guard and the messenger were in a separate room filling the ATM machines. In the middle of what they were doing, there was a bank robbery in progress inside the branch. They had no idea what was going on Men who had AK47's stepped out of the branch while the messenger and the guard also stepped out at the same time and one of the robbers shot both Brinks employees and killed the Brinks guard. The original guard for that route had called in sick that day and my friend was put on that truck that day and now she is gone. She was also wearing a bullet proof vest. If I came back to work that week, I think I would have been on that route. I have also had partners who were convicted felons who were carrying guns, and you just don't know until the last minute. It's so hard to continue working and continue your day job when you know you have lost someone.

I know this is for this thread, but I apologize in advance for getting off topic of EV's :)
I tend to get a bit passionate about these types of issues

This sounds horrible. Still, I chuckled when I read the title.