Obviously we need to outlaw bicycles as they are distracting trucks.

No, Will, we need to outlaw trucks as they are evil CO2-producing menaces to bicyclists. We'll just do garbage pickup via wheelbarrow and ship goods across the Americas on the backs of donkeys.

Now, let the cyclist/driver crap-flinging begin!

Sounds like the cyclist was unfortunately riding too fast for the road conditions. A truck driver's right hand side mirror can be free of visible traffic when he starts his turn, but a bike picking up speed downhill can appear before he's halfway to completing his turn.

How do the cops know that the driver had his turn signal on?

Funny this should happen, because yesterday I was riding to work and it hit me: my motorcycle is actually a fixie! Always has been. Although I've been thinking about one of those nice Yoyodyne slipper clutches lately, which is what got me to realize the fixed-wheel connection thing. I mean, I have six gears, obviously, but the rear sprocket is fixed to the hub so I can't freewheel down hills. You know what I mean.

Anyhoo, I predict these two deaths will combine in vindicating once and for all whatever position the Portland Mercury has been taking RE: bikes. I'm seeing a big feature story here. I'm seeing the facts surrounding these two deaths arranging themselves in preternatural service of the important point the Mercury would like to make. Whatever that point is.

Oh, and I can guarantee you the cyclist was wearing a helmet, 'cause if he wasn't we'd hear about it.

You forgot to mention the cyclist killed by the cement truck.

(Watch out, there's a picture of the body bag still in the street.)

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/10/cement_truck_crushes_bicyclist.html

i've been to portland, and they ride CRAZY down there - like its friggin europe or something & they have as many rights as motor vehicles! & they ain't got no hills to make them cautious.

i tell everyone: remember, they're TRYING to kill you. its what cars & trucks do.

this happened from a standstill at a red light, with the truck turning right across a bike lane.

she got run over by BOTH axles.

the "bike box" concept - putting the bikes out in front of the vehicles where you can see them - would have helped.

For those who need to catch up on The Stranger's favorite subjects:

Bikers: inherently good
Vehicles: inherently bad
Pit Bulls: in need of extinction
Meth: the ONLY bad drug, the rest are super!
Women: victims
Heterosexual sex: fine and dandy
Gay sex: ok, with restrictions
Gays: victims
Skinny, Half-Naked Twinks: on every other issue's cover

Just a sampling. Got the most important ones though.

Sad news.

Kent Pederson has a useful post about how to try and avoid these sorts of collisions called "Avoid the Suicide Slot". Recommended reading for bikers and drivers:

http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2007/10/avoid-suicide-slot.html

this happened from a standstill at a red light, with the truck turning right across a bike lane.

Not what oregonlive is saying:

As the garbage truck approached the green light at North Greeley Avenue, the driver slowed down, police said. With his signal on, he started to make the sharp turn onto Greeley.

The cyclist, police said, had since gained speed coming down the hill and was proceeding straight in the bike lane to the right of the driving lane. As the truck turned, the cyclist struck the vehicle.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1193109912293460.xml&coll=7&thispage=2

Erica already laid it out, it's not the truck, the driver or the law abiding cyclist that matters, it's more important to determine if the fixed-gear bike is part of some kind of new fangled fad.

Duh?

Too bad we didn't have hidden police cameras at the intersection ... then we could trust Big Brother that it was an attack by Islamics.

Duh, is it, "Real"?

portland, portland, portland.

Stunned silence from the 'Portland is better than Seattle' camp.

At the risk of sounding horribly insensitive - and I'm really not attempting to blame the victim - if the post @ 12 is true, trying to pass a big-ass truck which is at a standing stop at a controlled intersection while you're coming down a hill on the right without making eye contact with driver is suicide (well, assuming the truck's turn signal was on - it would still be ill-advised if it was not).

In this case, the most likely real-world scenario is that the stopped truck driver looked down to the right in his passenger side mirror from a rather limited field of view and saw there were no pedestrians at the intersection, so he went, and the bicyclist rode into his path. Trucks are loud, and he probably didn't hear a word the guy said because he was on the OTHER side of his cab.

Defensive driving is good - defensive riding is essential.

I think cops should enforce the requirement that vehicles get their turn signals going well before an intersection so bikes (and other drivers, for that matter) can determine the driver's intent and then pass turning vehicles on the left rather than the right, and I think drivers ought to look more closely for bikes - but in busy environments, they can be hard to see even if you're looking.

Now be safe out there, y'all...

This is so sad. Yet another reason why they should build elevated bike-ways for bike riders...then they could avoid all traffic.