Posted on 07/17/2006 7:07:51 AM PDT by Investment Biker
CROSBY TOWNSHIP -- A bicycle outing turned deadly when two people were struck and killed by an oncoming car on New Haven Road near Crosby Road on Sunday.
At about 11:15 a.m., deputies said Anthony Gerike, 25, of Batavia, lost control of his Geo Tracker and drove left of center and head-on into a group of 10 cyclists that was traveling westbound. Gerike's car continued to travel out of control and also hit a Chevrolet Cavalier that was traveling behind the group.
Two bikers, 51-year-old Amy Gehring of Cincinnati and 53-year-old Terry Walker of Fairfield, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
A passenger in the cavalier, Frank Meeker, 48, of Fairfield, was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Gerike was transported from the scene to University Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries. He has been released into the custody of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department and faces two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and driving with a suspended licence.
Gerike was in court Monday and a judge set his bail at $1 million.
Deputies said Gerike's licence was suspended only a month ago.
The sheriff's office said that alcohol and/or drugs were a factor in the crash. It remains under investigation.
The driver was arrested about 1 week earlier for driving with a suspended license. The state needs to change the laws such that the cars are taken when they are caught driving without a license.
Prayers for the victims.
I used to bike but gave it up after a few close calls. If I had kept it up I'd be in better physical shape now, or dead.
Houston striped some bike lanes down the sides of some very busy streets and 2 bikers died just 2 blocks from my house.
I'd love to see the laws changed that driving with a suspended license would equate to reckless endangerment, attempted 2nd degree murder, and contempt of court. Too many a-holes seem to get away with it over and over again before getting soft judges to pat them gently on the wrist.
Wow, that's too bad.
I did a double century over the weekend and had this dream that I was hit from behind and punted into a lake with my feet still clipped into the pedals.
I wonder if it may have had a different outcome had the support vehicle not been there blocking the lane.
We have a friend whose husband was killed in front of her by a truck on a narrow highway 'out in the boonies.' They were urban folk, out riding where they thought it would be safe.
Was a scientist near here (Pasadena) killed last year riding to work on a side street, off the beaten track but heading for his lab.
It is not an even contest/ bike and car. I wouldn't do it.
Just to be clear, I would like that too, but not for administrative suspensions like mine (3 speeding tickets, no notification that I was suspended). But for DWI, I agree.
...lost control of his Geo Tracker and drove left of center and head-on into a group of 10 cyclists that was traveling westbound. Gerike's car continued to travel out of control and also hit a Chevrolet Cavalier that was traveling behind the group....
Who is driving drunk at 11:15 AM? At a certain point, stupidity becomes criminal. This fella is waaaaaay past that point. He should have the book thrown at him.
The title should have been, "Drunk Driver Kills Bicyclists".
One has to ask whether Anthony was actually in control of his vehicle in the first place.
Hang the b@stard.
I can stop this type of murder cold. Summary execution. Drunk at scene, kneel down, bullet in head. Call coroner.
NexT!!!!!!!!!
Bikes belong on sidwalks.
It's against the law, hoss. Sidewalks are for walking.
Thanks for the clarification. I misread the article and thought the Geo driver passed the Cavalier and then cut in on the cyclists.
The law doesn't make sense. Why force someone who is riding a 14 pound bike ride on the same pavement at motor vehicles? You hafta cross double yellow lines on a two lane road just to pass them. That's illegal too. Hoss.
Bicycles do not belong on sidewalks. I ride a lot and do not feel safe at all on a sidewalk. Too many cars pass the sidewalk as they pull out of driveways and sidestreets etc.
Slow recreational riders and kids, sure, but real cyclists should be on the road.
Many people who drink heavily the night before would fail a DUI the following morning, so an officer told me. Some even feel sober, but the alcohol is still in the blood.
LOL......I fired a mover once, because he smelled of alcohol when he showed up at our house to move our furniture (actually, I made his supervisor take him off the job).....and this was a major moving company.....he claimed he'd only had a few beers the night before.....me, I wanted my Armoire to survive the trip out the back door and down the slippery lawn in one piece.
After ALL these stories......I think I've just given up biking......even on rural roads......will stick with Mountain Biking on trails!
But it's legal to drive to a bar, get falling down drunk (gov't makes big bucks every time you do), and leave the bar...
And you're trusted(?) to drive home or to the next bar or an eatery while you're soused...
I don't know anyone who drinks that doesn't drive while legally drunk at some time or another...And undoubtedly a number of bicycle drivers have driven a vehicle legally drunk as well...
Obviously this makes good sense to millions of Americans...
Might make more sense to pass a law that all sober drivers are illegal...
The same would hold true for motorcycles in your example.
See post 25.
A 'rural' road is the absolutely WORST place a recreational (or so-called professional) cyclist should be riding. I live in a rural area and the thing that gets you guys killed the most is riding on the weekend out in the country,mountains, whatever, sometimes 2-3 abreast, carefree on a 2 lane country road with a 50-55 MPH speed limit and beaucoup curves thinking you're safe because you have a right to be there...seen that mistake a bunch of times....
There's the law....and then there's physics....guess who wins?
I've seen too many on the roads I spoke of to believe that most cyclists carefully act to avoid creating hazardous conditions. You can't help but create a hazard on a 2 lane road with no shoulders, curvy sections and a speed limit that isn't low enough, I don't care how much "caution" they take.
Elsewhere in urban areas, I've seen them in one minute "act like a car" and then when they get to a light "act like a pedestrian who's legally allowed to run a redlight." All in the space of 50 yards. Or they get to a light that's backed up 50 cars and they decide that they can pass (squeeze) by on the right because they can, nevermind that they're supposed to be behaving towards the same rules as an automobile..... It's the damndest thing I ever saw.
Guess you drive a semi then since the heaviest wins and this is the only way to ensure you win in a physics contest. The best way to change the drunks from taking lives is to require random Breathalyzer built into each car and truck sold. Eventually, as the fleet is replaced, all vehicles will have it. Then, when riding a cycle, we will only have to worry about those that do not have full control in their vehicle when approaching a curve or a slow moving vehicle.
Actually, I haven't ridden on any road for years....been thinking about getting out there again.....and when I did....would NEVER ride two abreast.....no matter where....it's rude.....and dangerous. Like I said, think we'll stay to trails.....enough other risks in life....at our age.
And you can still smell it too. A couple guys I work with are pretty hardcore drinkers. I can tell them what brand whiskey they were drinking the previous night!
If I get drunk (which isn't very often these days) I won't operate a car for a full 24 hours from my last drink --just to be on the safe side.
If he is still drunk at 11:15 in the morning, chances are he's a pretty serious alcoholic. While MADD keeps lowering the BAC level that defines "drunk" it is precisely people like Gerike --hardcore alcoholics driving on suspended licenses, who are responsible for most alcohol-related traffic fatalities.
These people continue to drive regardless of how intoxicated they are and couldn't care less that they don't have a driver's license.
A bicycle on a curvy 2 lane, no shoulder road in the country is not a slow moving vehicle. It is a pedestrian on a contraption that should know better. You can sugarcoat/obfuscate it with stuff about semi's and drunks but that's what it boils down to. You speak about bicyclists only having to worry about those who aren't in control of the situation when you neglect the biggest offender of that rule. It's just plain stupid and you (speaking of the proponents of this stubborness) can argue all the way to the morgue.
That's a smart move. Enjoy your ride. It's easier when you don't have to worry about traffic of whatever kind....
1. Bicycles are too slow.
2. Bicycles obstruct traffic.
3. Bicycles are too dangerous.
Usually these comments are written by impatient drivers that simply can not accept the fact that the law defines multiple types of traffic even the one that may slow them down for a moment. Different types of vehicles include everything from a slow moving child on a bicycle to a horse drawn buggy (think Amish) to a farm tractor to a high speed sports car. All are required to exercise due care regardless of the physics involved.
Certainly bicyclist make mistakes that generally endanger only themselves, that is the chance they take. And certainly motorists that are not blindly drunk make mistakes that can endanger those with less physical protection. But for the life of me I can not understand why idiots choose threads about a drunk killing a couple of cyclists at 11:00am to imply that somehow it is the fault of cyclists. And, this is the category you fall into. You have no care for the cyclist, you simply wish they were not on the road. They are too slow, they are dangerous, they impede traffic, etc., etc., etc. Or should I just say Yada,yada, yada. I have hear it all from folks like you.
Bicycles have a right to be on the road.
Bicycles can by law ride two abreast.
Bicycles do not impede traffic, they are traffic by law.
Kill a cyclist, go to jail.
Well, you have fun on your little bicycle now. Just remember that just because you may have a 'technical' right to be there, it doesn't mean that good sense dictates you be there. You (most facistly ardent bikers' rights people) are a nuisance for the sake of riding around in little tight pants and a funny looking Aliens hat just because you have a right to.
"sidewalks are for walking"
Somebody needs to tell that to all the joggers who insist on using the street...
I'm an ardent mountain bike and road rider, riding every other day and up in the mountains on the weekends, and I would NEVER ride two abreast...it's rude to drivers in cars, and it's dangerous.
I thank God we don't have the idiotic Critical Mass thugs here in Southern Oregon...they've destroyed traffic flow whenever they ride.
Ed
Actuyally, here in Grants Pass, Southern Oregon, bikes are legal on all but the downtown sidewalks...
Ed
So very smug (ala the South Park fart-sniffing Hybrid drivers). I'm sure you're content at the peak of physical fitness you must have attained whilst unloading your 10 OZ, $2500 magnesium frame, 25 speed bicycle from your Volvo after a hard day at investment banking or whatever it is you do. This, regardless of any substantive credible sources to back it up. [let me guess, the study to which you refer was in a 'biking' magazine -- show me a study and I'll show you someone who paid for it, has something to gain by it, makes his living from it, or has some other axe to grind].
This started after a comment from me about biking in the country as opposed to elsewhere and how ignorant that is. You took it as a slam against all bicyclists and proceeded to tell me your rights, never ceding one single point.
That’s intriguing. I’d like to see the study. Do you have a link?
So if this is true than "good sense" dictate that I be there. Now you don't know my riding habits. I wear a helmet and pick my roads carefully.
Mrs. Still and I both like to cycle. We both always wear helmets. We pick our routes carefully and avoid motor vehicle traffic. We’re lucky to live near several bike paths, so we utilize them a lot.
I had checked out some bike safety websites and found a lot of info on safe cycling. It freaked me out a bit, as they described many car/bike crash scenarios I would never have even thought of. As such, I stay off the streets and on the paths as much as possible.
I think sidewalks are mostly for pedestrians. I do not agree that bikes belong on highways however, especially where there are no breakdown lanes. Bikes belong on bike paths, and if you ride in the road, you take your chances.
It may be different where you are, but in NYS the shoulder/right side of the lane belongs to the cyclist. This means that the cyclist is a-ok running up the side of the lane. Don't believe me? If I still had it I'd send you the police report for the woman who came up along side of me and then turned right and cut me off. I had a scraped up left knee and left arm, a few other scrapes to the bike, and both wheels had to be retrued - I rode the bike home. OTOH, she lost her rt side mirror, had a BIG dent shaped like me in her passenger door and a big fat ticket - failure to yeild right of way. Her insurance company wrote me a nice check, too. (situations where the biker "wins" are rare, but they do exist)
Are there jerks out there on bikes? You bet. I always work hard to be curtious to drivers, anticipating their needs and actions so I don't get in the way, and I thank them when they act considerately toward me. But when bikers are irresponsible or act badly they can place themselves at risk and annoy and delay people in cars. Are there jerks out there in cars? You bet, and when they are irresponsible or act badly they can place bike riders at risk of serious injury or even kill them.
So now, help me understand, not just you, Gaffer, but all of you car apologists... I'm supposed to stay off the road in order to ease your burden of annoyance so you will not be tempted to act rashly and kill me? This is just another manifestation of road rage. How dare this slow a$$ cyclist be in my way? I'll run him into the ditch!
Perhaps there is a new market out there - triangular holsters that strap in right under the top tube and behind the head tube.
Talk about smugness and stupidity. You know so little about cycling it shows through in every post. You are ignorant but just don't know it yet. First, I have never seen a magnesium frame could you point to one in a website perhaps? No, they don't exist. You see magnesium is brittle and attracts water and is such is generally a poor choice for frames though it is used in some components. My frame was less than $2,500 and is an Orbea carbon fiber. The only magnesium on my bike is the seat rails. There is much aluminum, steel and titanium. I also have never seen a 10 oz frame. My bike weighs 17.1 pounds significantly above the UCI limit of 15lbs. The pros would like to see the 10 oz frame as the lightest frames weigh in above 2 pounds. Again could you point to a website for a 10 oz magnesium frame or are you just being ignorant again. And no the study I cited was not done by a bike magazine but was originally done by the US department of transportation and the US consumer products safety commission. The statistics are available on the web as are interpretations of the statistics but the proper interpretation of them becomes very murky mostly because the stats are somewhat incomplete.
And while you are smugly (ala South Park fart-sniffing a holes) assuming things about me. I do not drive a Volvo, I drive a 1/2 ton Chevy Avalanche. So rail away just realize that you are ignorant and you ignorance is evident. Bring it on dummy.
Ahhh, I understand.
Yeah, that makes sense to me. When we're riding on some lonely country roads and there's no cars around for miles, we'll ride two abreats, too.
Ed
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