Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

This is very sad!

http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/lat ... -by-truck/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Foo

sad...suppose the media will make out the cyclist was responsible for the truck driver hitting the bridge

Saw this on social media very sad....

Friend of a friend. Just got home to read this and followed Dave Sharps link. Condolences to the victims family.

is he a known member?

Freak accident. All very sad.

Very sad news

Just awful, my sympathies to his friends & family.

freak accident only if you discount the truck driver negligently tried to drive his too tall truck under a too short bridge.
In this day of GPS trip routing, one would think things like this are totally avoidable.

They are Win, If the driver gives a rats enough to check his load height. Not like it's that hard with a container on a flatbed semi.

Maybe someone snuck some air into his tyres when he wasn't looking?

Condolences to the family and friends

name released:
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/quee ... 6699373890" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

THE friends of a cyclist who died after being crushed by an overturned truck in Brisbane's inner-south yesterday have described the father-of-two as a "true gentleman."

Les Karayan, 40, of Greenslopes, was riding along Annerley Rd at Dutton Park around 7.30am on Saturday when a truck clipped the rail bridge and rolled, killing him.

The story I got today at the CX race, was that Les was riding with mates earlier yesterday morning, when he had a spoke break. Everyone agreed the pack ride on while Les phoned his wife, who drove another wheel to where he was, and he continued on solo on a Brissy River Loop. It's a sad thing...and you have to feel for his wife and two children. It would lead to a better world, if people in authority could learn something profound from someone losing their life this way, and respect the laws of the land seriously enough to enforce them as intended.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/ ... -accident/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another unnecessary death from what seems to be caused by poor design and driver negligence. My condolences to his family. Very sad.

Very sad and so totally avoidable too. Some route planning and checking for low bridges would have avoided this.

The bicycle shot was pretty haunting.

My condolences to his family and friends in their time of sadness.

This is the site. Looking at Street View, how you could drive under the height restrictor and not notice it is beyond me...and it is well clear of the bridge so plenty of time to stop.



Coincidentally, I had come across an incident on Kingsford Smith Drive earlier on the same morning, and later remarked to my wife that the consequences could have been dire if I had arrived a few moments earlier. Then we saw this tragedy reported only a short time later.

Details of the incident on KSD?

In-bound or outbound? Time?

marinmomma wrote:Details of the incident on KSD?

In-bound or outbound? Time?

I didn't check the time, but it would have been just after 6:30am on the outbound lane at the Powerhouse Hotel. I came around the bend from Brekky Creek and found there was a police car blocking the lane. A badly damaged car was on the footpath, rear in the garden, front facing out, and skid marks were visible on the road and footpath. There didn't appear to be anyone other than police on the scene so I assumed the driver had bolted.

RonK wrote:

marinmomma wrote:Details of the incident on KSD?

In-bound or outbound? Time?

I didn't check the time, but it would have been just after 6:30am on the outbound lane at the Powerhouse Hotel. I came around the bend from Brekky Creek and found there was a police car blocking the lane. A badly damaged car was on the footpath, rear in the garden, front facing out, and skid marks were visible on the road and footpath. There didn't appear to be anyone other than police on the scene so I assumed the driver had bolted.

I asked because I had a nutter give me a close shave and attempted to run me off the road along there last Saturday morning around 7:30am, was hoping that it wasn't a similar incident that involved a cyclist....

I heard on ABC radio today that the transport minister apologised to the family of the cyclist involved in the Annerley Rd incident, fwiw, it's not going to bring home a husband and father

I was sent this on Satrday arvo. I'm still depressed and thoroughly pissed off:
https://www.facebook.com/SafeCyclingAus ... 1528727588" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The article by the Courier Mail after they read this on Sunday:
https://www.facebook.com/SafeCyclingAus ... 5125356895" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2 ... H0zcXO&s=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HOMENEWSQUEENSLAND
Brisbane cyclist Les Karayan killed in freak accident
KATE MCKENNA AND FELICITY SHEPPARD
THE COURIER-MAIL
AUGUST 19, 2013 12:00AM

Les Karayan with children Alessandro, 11, and Sabine, 9, and wife of over 20 years, Kerri-Lee. Source: Supplied
IT was a "beautiful day," remarked Les Karayan, who was not going to let a few broken spokes stop him from his morning ride.
His wife had come to his aid after his bike broke down early Saturday morning but as soon as he returned home and fixed the wheel, he bade farewell to his family and hit the road for a second time.
No one could have known it would be his last ride.
Mr Karayan, 40, of Greenslopes, died when a truck clipped the rail bridge at Annerley Rd at Dutton Park and crushed him.
His wife Kerri-Lee was too devastated to speak yesterday but in an email to The Courier-Mail she sketched details of a life devoted to sporting passions.
"He played many sports - tennis, soccer, cricket in childhood. He played roller hockey for Australia and coached the women's national team.
"He started triathlons events leading to ironman distance. His favourite leg was cycling," she wrote.
Mr Karayan’s broken bike about 30 minutes before the accident. Source: Supplied
The haunting final photograph Mr Karayan uploaded to Facebook showed his broken bike resting against a traffic light pole at Mt Gravatt. It is believed to have been taken 30 minutes before the crash.
The caption: 'Broken … at least it was at km 5 not 100!'
Mr Karayan was remembered as a loving father of two and a consummate sales manager with the "gift of the gab".
"He was a fantastic dad and a good, good salesperson so he loved to talk and stir people up," long-time friend Michael Surman told The Courier-Mail. "He had just finished 19 years with PMP Distribution and he had just started a job with Oztrail two weeks ago.
"He was really excited and thrilled about the change."
Les Karayan was the victim of a freak cycling accident. Source: Supplied
Mr Karayan attended Holland Park High School and was a proficient cyclist who treated people with enormous respect, Mr Surman said.
"His father is Egyptian and his mother is Italian and that hospitality and kindness towards people … that came out through Les," he said.
Mr Karayan met Kerri-Lee through tennis some 20 years ago and built a life with her and their two children, Alessandro, 11, and Sabine, 9.
Family and friends gathered at their family home in Greenslopes yesterday as members of the cycling community paid tribute online.
The scene of the accident at Dutton Park on Saturday. Source: News Limited
A bouquet of flowers has been left at the scene, along with the message "in memory and in celebration of someone who made this world a brighter and better place".
Friends and members of the cycling community have taken to social networking website Facebook to voice their shock and pay tribute to Mr Karayan.
"This is truly devastating. He was a great guy and will be missed," Susan Thomas wrote on Safe Cycling Australia's page.
"Les was a true gentleman and a great friend, he will be dearly missed. Stay safe everyone while out on your bikes," Vanessa Trott wrote.
Safe Cycling Australia director David Sharp - who is also a truck driver himself - said news of Karayan's death had hit the cycling community "hard".
While the crash is under investigation, Mr Sharp rejected suggestions it had been a "freak accident".
He said cyclists have the right to ride on the road and that truck drivers were responsible for knowing the height of their vehicle.

Forensics crash officers are investigating but police say it's too early to say whether charges will be laid.

Does anyone have an update on the Newcastle rider, also crushed by a truck yesterday? The NSW papers have no details at all.

The 2nd Womble wrote:Does anyone have an update on the Newcastle rider, also crushed by a truck yesterday? The NSW papers have no details at all.

Made it to the Newcastle Herald
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/17134 ... on/?cs=305" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sadly it was apparently not newsworthy for any further detail.

find_bruce wrote:

The 2nd Womble wrote:Does anyone have an update on the Newcastle rider, also crushed by a truck yesterday? The NSW papers have no details at all.

Made it to the Newcastle Herald
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/17134 ... on/?cs=305" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sadly it was apparently not newsworthy for any further detail.

That's the problem with anything in NSW, its all just a non event. NSW, the black hole of Australian cycling.

find_bruce wrote:

The 2nd Womble wrote:Does anyone have an update on the Newcastle rider, also crushed by a truck yesterday? The NSW papers have no details at all.

Made it to the Newcastle Herald
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/17134 ... on/?cs=305" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sadly it was apparently not newsworthy for any further detail.

Reassuring that the truck driver was unharmed. Those cyclists are dangerous and a real menace dontcha know