Medics responded to a report that a dump truck had struck a bicyclist at Boren and Pike Thursday morning. According to Seattle Fire, the 25-year-old female rider was rushed to Harborview in stable condition after being hit by the truck and dragged just after 9 AM. The intersection is known as a danger point on the Hill for cyclists. 18-year-old Nap Cantwell, son of Elysian founder Dick Cantwell, died after being struck by a van as he rode through the intersection in late May. The area remains blocked to traffic as collision investigators continue to work the scene.
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle News
Community News For All of Seattle's Capitol Hill
I’m curious about why folks don’t go over 1 street to a protected lane? Pike is much steeper than Pine in between Summit and 9th, and less than 400 feet away. I’m a regular cyclist, and really wouldn’t dare go down Pike for how fast cars go on both Boren and Pike.
The article doesn’t actually specify what direction the cyclist was heading at the time of the accident.
I feel that when you’re crossing Pike you’re often picking the least dangerous route, instead of the “best” route. At least there’s a traffic signal at Boren & Pike. I sometimes cross at Minor & Pike, and because there’s no traffic signal and there’s a curve… crossing feels like a gamble.
Actually, I think it was Pine and Boren, not Pike and Boren. I was on the 49 bus heading downtown on Pine and saw someone getting loaded into an ambulance.
According to the linked article, Cantwell died after running into a van, not being struck by it.
We’ll try to clarify. Initial report was medics responding to Boren/Olive. SFD’s initial report is that biker was struck at Pike.
SPD’s description:
I was also on the bus, saw the dump truck and the response vehicles on Boren just north of Pine. The report says she was dragged, so perhaps hit at Pike and drug all the way past Pine? Sounds terrible.
Are these dump trucks coming and going from the bus tunnel site? If so, they need to update their “# of days since last incident” board.
Didn’t see the accident but saw the paramedic arrive while riding the 10 into downtown. The rider looked to be under the curbside front wheel of a tandem dump trucks trailer. As we were pulling away, saw them bring a backboard to the scene, and faintly saw a leg/foot sticking out from beneath the wheel.
The dump truck was stopped a couple hundered feet down Boren from Pine, between Pine and Olive. What I’m guessing was the driver was quite clearly frazzled. I’m not trying to excuse the driver, but it’s grizzly for all involved.
It’s really impossible to say with information we currently have where the truck came from. Could have been any of the sites on the hill where excavation is currently underway.
I have biked down Pike everyday for years and have never really had any issue at all. Also, Pine is actually quite a bit steeper between Summit & 9th, so I don’t know where you got that from.
Just a quick note, we looked into this and the previous incident with our Safety folks and neither involved Sound Transit truckers. We wrapped up major hauling from the Capitol Hill site over the summer, without incident. Hoping for a full recovery by both these bikers.
Bruce Gray
ST Spokesman
About the report from the Sound Transit guys, what about what happened sometime late last year (or maybe earlier this year?) on Union and Broadway? I’m pretty sure it was a dump truck working for the tunnel that ran into the bus wires because he was driving with the box lifted. It knocked down a whole bunch of wires and stopped up transit on Broadway for some time.
Wasn’t us, Lindsay. We did have one truck that didn’t have its gate secured well and spilled some muck that had to be cleaned up. Otherwise, we’ve been very happy with our haulers and the caution people have heeded around the jobsite when we were in full hauling mode. Always tricky working in such a busy neighborhood.
From Seattle Bike Blog
http://seattlebikeblog.com/2012/11/29/woman-struck-by-dump-t
“Shannon says:
November 29, 2012 at 4:00 pm
I was the cyclist behind her and saw everything. The dump truck turned in front of her (he didn’t see her) and the dump truck in the back dragged her down the hill. I was there when EMT arrived and I can’t belive she only had minor injuries. It was awful to see this happen, I’ve been thinking about it all day. I’m so happy she is OK!!!”
A bicyclist merging behind what she thinks is an ordinary dump-truck could easily overlook the long, low, dull-colored tow bar of the dump-trailer, which usually follows at an unexpectedly great distance behind. I’ll bet drivers hit these things all the time.
I have the same thought. Just yesterday while on the Hill I saw the one little dim, constant intensity orange light that is mounted to the trailer bar. Unless you’re really looking carefully (and it’s daylight) it would be easy to hope that you’re just looking at a single truck. The front corners of the trailer should probably have flashing warning lights along with the mid-bar warning light being flashing. Maybe as small as the flashers on the Metro bus mirrors that are turned on in the tunnel.
Has anyone confirmed if the Pike and Boren information is correct or if this actually happened at Pike and Boren. If Pike and Boren, that’s a hell of a long way to get dragged.
Hi,
I got hit at Pine and Boren. I was biking down the hill, headed from Capitol Hill to South Lake Union. The truck had a trailer: I didn’t notice the trailer or, until it was too late, the truck’s signal that it would be turning right from the straight line, so, into the protected bicycle lane. I am in the hospital and doing ok – I have road rash, two fractured ribs, and a pneumothorax is dissipating. I am very lucky and extremely thankful to have wonderful friends and colleagues who have been stopping in to visit regularly.
Glad you are OK! You really dodged a bullet this time.
Thanks for confirming, jseattle. Can you update the text in this article? “8-year-old Nap Cantwell, son of Elysian founder Dick Cantwell, *died after being struck by a van* as he rode through the intersection in late May.” (emphasis mine)