Adelaide Now: Plea to drivers as cyclist toll soars

South Australia has already recorded its average annual number of cyclist deaths after a fourth death yesterday, prompting a warning for drivers to show extra vigilance. (Want to make a comment on this story? Then scroll down and use the comments box below.) A 49-year-old Truro man died when he was hit from behind by a delivery truck in the Barossa Valley about 6.30am. The collision happened on the Kapunda to Truro Rd, 8km east of Kapunda, as both the truck and cyclist were travelling west towards Kapunda. At the same time last year, one cyclist had been killed and in the previous two years, none had died up until the same time.

Christian Haag, general manager of Cycling SA said the average annual number of cyclists killed on the state’s road was four. “It is very worrying that at a time where car crash fatalities have reached an all-time low, we have already reached our year’s average in March,” he said. “It is time for us to sit down with the Government and look at the road sharing campaign. We want to encourage education, enforcement and infrastructure investment - such as more bicycle lanes.”

Nuriootpa Senior Sergeant Martin Kennedy said it was too early to tell what may have caused yesterday’s collision, which was being investigated by major crash police. “The cyclist was knocked from his bike and was pronounced dead by ambulance crews at the scene,” he said. “Fatalities, particularly when it involves a local person, impacts on the whole community.” The truck driver, who was later taken to Angaston Hospital suffering shock, was with the fatally-injured cyclist for about 20 minutes before paramedics arrived.

Truck owner Kevin Fairclough said the driver had been delivering products since 3am. He left from Adelaide and was to travel through the Barossa Valley and then on to Clare. “It is a tragic accident and I’m sure it is going to impact heavily on the driver because it’s something he would have never had to deal with before,” he said. The cyclist’s death took the state’s road toll to 29, which is identical to the same time last year.