Two cyclists died near Napa, California, Tuesday by a lumber truck when its load suddenly shifted of the picturesque roadway.

Authorities say the victims, identified as Christian and Michelle Deaton, were legally riding north on the valley’s winding, two-lane Silverado Trail when they encountered a flatbed truck headed in the opposite direction. Somehow, the lumber it was carrying shifted and fell, hitting the cyclists, Fox 8 reports.

Exactly what caused the load to hit the Deatons when it did is still being investigated, but Christian was declared dead at the scene. Michelle, meanwhile, was taken to a nearby hospital where she later died from her injuries. According to the sheriff’s office, they were visiting the Napa Valley from Portland, Oregon. And to his credit, the truck driver stayed at the scene and reportedly cooperated with authorities who are still investigating what caused the load to shift and hit the cyclists.

read more: https://jalopnik.com/two-cyclists-killed-by-trucks-lumber-load-in-california-1850954500

archive link: https://archive.ph/ZJb0f

    • 601error@lemmy.ca
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      10 months ago

      Unless the load was improperly secured, or the driver was not driving safely, which we don’t know yet.

      • oo1@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        Even if so, I’d not argue for a non-“truck centric” approach to moving dead trees.
        The busses would have to have huuuge luggage racks.

        More training or enforcement might be worthwhile - but some sort of medium scale free ranging bulk transport will likely always be an important part of tree logistics.

        • Treczoks@kbin.social
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          10 months ago

          Even if so, I’d not argue for a non-“truck centric” approach to moving dead trees.

          Me neither, but some folks here probably believe that things like that would not happen if those trees had been carried by bikes.

    • InputZero@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      That scene was terrifying, I’m still afraid of lumber trucks to this day.

  • willhig@beehaw.org
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    10 months ago

    While tragic, I don’t think this is fuckcars material. Truckers are professionals, doing a job that is far more inevitable than the more relevant problem, which is the overaccommodation of the use of personal automobiles by amateurs.

    • LimitedWard@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      It’s less about how we move lumber and more highlighting the dangers of having cyclists share the road with giant trucks and cars. You wouldn’t hear stories like this in countries like the Netherlands where they actually provide proper bike infrastructure that’s separated from the road.