2 cyclists struck by driver carrying oversized load on Sea-to-Sky Highway - CBC.ca

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A Vancouver man is thankful to be alive after being one of two cyclists hit by a driver carrying an overhanging load in a pickup truck on the Sea-to-Sky Highway Monday.

A tweet from Squamish RCMP at 1:44 p.m. Monday confirms a cyclist was hit by a vehicle on the Sea-to-Sky Highway and first responders were on the scene.

"It me," reads a retweet by Twitter user Todd Nickel.

In a release issued Tuesday afternoon, RCMP said a 45-year-old man had been hospitalized after he was struck with an insecure load of lumber being carried in the bed of a truck on Highway 99 near Lions Bay a day earlier.

It me 🤬 <a href="https://t.co/oAjpboOMty">https://t.co/oAjpboOMty</a>

&mdash;@toddnickel

The release states officers from Sea-to-Sky Traffic Services attended the scene and witnesses reported the strap of the load appeared to have broken, causing the load to shift significantly over the right side of the bed and protrude over the shoulder of the highway, without the driver's knowledge.

One of two cyclists hit on Monday had continued on and had not been located by police by the time of the release.

Nickel shared a photo of a white pickup truck on the highway with a bundle of wooden planks sticking out from the side of the cargo bed. The oversized load is dangling over the shoulder of the road.

CBC News has confirmed Mike Martin took the photo. Martin is the second cyclist that was hit by the load.

Investigators from traffic services have located the driver and vehicle, and the driver has been issued a ticket in violation of the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act for driving without consideration and insecure cargo, which could add up to $484 in fines, according to the release. 

Psychological impact of crash

In a tweet, Nickel says "this hit me from behind" at 80 km/h.

In a Facebook post, Nickel said he was taken to the Lions Gate Hospital and is "happy to be alive and mad as hell" following the incident.

During an interview from his hospital bed on Tuesday, Nickel said he had set out on his bike the day before to tackle the approximately 100-kilometre round-trip from the city's West End to Britannia Beach.

He said he was hit shortly after passing another cyclist on his way back to the city, near Furry Creek.

"I heard [the cyclist] shout, and then, almost the same moment, something hit me in the back of the head and I went down," he said.

Todd Nickel of Vancouver was cycling along the Sea-to-Sky Highway from Britannia Beach on Monday when he was hit by the driver of a vehicle carrying an overhanging load. (Supplied by Todd Nickel)

Nickel estimates he had been travelling about 50 km/h on his bike at the time of the collision. A few people who identified themselves as off-duty responders began medically assisting him and someone called for an ambulance right away, he said.

"Time seemed to slow down. It was pretty painful," he said.

He said he lost consciousness, and there was blood dripping down his face.

Todd Nickel, pictured here on Monday, suffered broken bones in addition to injuries to his face as a result of being hit by a driver carrying an over-sized bundle of wood. (Supplied by Todd Nickel)

Nickel could be seen with cuts across his nose and bruising on his face during on online video interview. 

"I didn't even know what had happened," he told CBC News.

After undergoing a CT scan and X-rays, he said his injuries include a broken clavicle, broken scapula, broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Cyclist calls it negligence

Using a feature on the Strava app, Nickel believes he has identified the vehicle that hit him. He has posted a photo of a white pickup truck that has been circulating on social media.

It was the first time the relatively new cyclist had crashed. Nickel said it was also his first time on that highway, which has a posted maximum speed of 80 km/h.

"I refuse to call it an accident. It wasn't an accident; it was negligence. I crashed because I got hit by a negligent driver," he said.

Nickel wants to see improved traffic enforcement to make highway safer for all users.

In his experience as a driver and cyclist, Nickel says he believes other drivers are sometimes antagonistic, and that people may be blaming him for taking his bike on the highway in the first place.

He said the mental aspect will outweigh the physical risks of getting back on two wheels.

"I do want to get back on the horse, as they say, but yeah, there's going to be a psychological element to get over," he said.

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2 cyclists struck by driver carrying oversized load on Sea-to-Sky Highway - CBC.ca
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