Posted on 12/10/2020 9:38:57 PM PST by BenLurkin
A group of cyclists were riding and had a Subaru hatchback "safety car" assigned to trail them when they were hit about 9:30 a.m. on southbound U.S. Highway 95 near Mile Marker 36, according to Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Travis Smaka.
A southbound truck "entered into the group of bicyclists, some of them were traveling behind the safety vehicle, they were struck, the safety vehicle was also struck as well as some the bicyclists in front of the safety vehicle," Smaka said.
The five cyclists were pronounced dead at the scene, south of Boulder City and north of Searchlight. One bicyclist suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to University Medical Center, officials said.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
5 bicyclists killed, 4 others injured in crash involving truck
...the driver wasn't impaired. Though I don't know how they'd have the results of a tox screen back this fast.
Such laws generally only apply to motor vehicles. The Nevada DMV says this (bolding is mine):
"Bicyclists have the same rights and the same responsibilities as other drivers in Nevada. Cyclists must ride to the right unless they are preparing to turn left or are able to match the speed of traffic. Cyclists must obey all traffic signs and signals and use hand signals for turns and stops."
MA state government does such a great job on so many levels.
/sarcasm
Technically 95 is not an “interstate”. It’s a State highway and in that section it is no place for bicycles to be.
People will see the person/bicycle/car and while staring at it drive right into it. It is as if they are watching TV and want to get a closer look rather then driving car. Just ask a road worker, I’m sure they could tell you some stories.
Gosh, that’s too bad...
Time and the investigation will tell how much “accident” was actually involved in this accident.
What has not been commented on in the articles cited has been the fact that the accident occurred on a divided highway with a significant dirt margin separating the opposing lanes of traffic and that the incident site is at a crossover between the two halves of the highway.
This location may be just where the dynamics of speed and impacts caused everything to finally come to rest. Or, it may have been a significant factor influencing the panel truck driver’s behavior.
By this, I mean an anxious state of mind where the driver of the halted panel truck may have felt that he had to accelerate suddenly to prevent himself from being “stuck” behind a slow moving group of oncoming bicyclists. So he presses hard on the accelerator, discovers the bicyclists are moving a lot faster than he thought, finds the panel truck is not capable of the speed or turning circle needed to successfully execute an evasive maneuver, plows into the pack, and is then struck by the trailing escort/chase vehicle.
And there is a late report that a technical team was called to the accident scene to inspect the panel truck’s brake system. Sure. Because, of course; the brakes.
I mention an anxious state of mind because I see it all the time here in northern Virginia.
I’m retired now and no longer contend with trekking up and down I-95 to commute. I’m referring to driver anxiety about being delayed on neighborhood and local surface streets that have stop signs or traffic signals every one, two, three, or four football fields in distance apart. Not everyone drives this way, of course. But reckless driving is significant enough that I routinely (as in daily) observe it - often multiple times in the same trip.
And, for those wondering: No, I am not the cause of the problem. I drive the speed limit and maintain pace with the flow of traffic. But I do maintain a reasonable (not excessive) following distance because there is always, always some anxious person up ahead rewriting the traffic rules to suit themselves.
Yeah. I agree with you. The corrected story is that the riders were ahead of the safety car — which is what you would expect. Now if the truck overtakes rapidly the driver *might* have swerved onto the shoulder in an attempt to avoid the car and so ‘collected’ the riders there. I imagine — like you said — that it was like a scoop shot on a billiards table. That would tend to push the riders & bikes INTO the traffic lanes and away from the shoulder where they were impacted. This is all conjecture but any highway patrol trooper would be able to quickly discern the likely point of impact along with the angle at which the riders were struck.
I’m not a frequent rider but there’s usually a lot of gravel, dust & debris the further into the shoulder you get. Enough to cause you to slide and possibly go down. The tendency is to ride just outside the shoulder marker line, very close to the traffic lane.
“”bike riders have as much right to the road as cars do.””
Do their bikes have all the standard equipment necessary to be on a public roadway, Head light, tail light, blinkers, inspection sticker, license plate, insurance and the required classes to get a license to be there? I believe that answer would be no, so in my opinion them traveling on a public roadway should be illegal. These bike riders create their own problems and are a danger to themselves and others, they impede traffic causing unnecessary situations and they’re a nuisance. In Texas you can get ticketed for impeding traffic.
What a very sad situation for all these people and their families and friends.
Some folks have trouble realizing that in most states, while riding where allowed, bike riders have as much right to the road as cars do.
1) rights also have responsibilities
2) “as much right to the road as cars” think about that. Are they equal? You put them together and what do you expect except accidents like this.
3) lets put some autos/motorized vehicles on the bike trails then. Equality changes now, doesn’t it?
The cyclist were on the very wide shoulder (off the road). The support car following them was most likely on the shoulder as well. The truck driver would have been able to see them well ahead of hitting them. He could have easily moved into the left lane ..... that is if he was looking at the road instead of a cell phone or book or tv. The fact that he veered into the shoulder to hit them seems to mean that he was not paying attention. I am thinking that skid marks on the road (or maybe no skid marks at all) would indicate whether or not he even saw them before veering off the road).
I live in a community where cycling is very common among the local community as well as tourist that come here to cycle. We all try to cooperate and share the roads. Of course there are some local arrogant millennials who resent the cyclist, actually they resent anyone who is not like them, and they whine and criticize, and recklessly speed in their pickup trucks, thinking of no one but themselves, believing they “own” the roads. The truth is that most of them pay little or no taxes that support the roads.
its a big wide road
someone driving while blind
I’ll bet the survivors won’t be ridin’ their bikes on the Interstate again any time soon...
I am one of the most defensive drivers there is.
Rental Truck?
Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Tony Illia said the truck allegedly hit a safety escort vehicle that was following the group of about 20 bicyclists.
Sounds like he was behind all of the bicycle riders.
Think "Natchez Trace" in this case. Trace, in this case, is an indicator that the original route originated in pre-motoring days as a trail, animal or Amerindian. Just an example of how English is like "Fibber Mcgee's closet", words go in but never leave! (Yeah, I like classic radio!)
Were they taking up a whole lane?
More details here:
According to Anderson, that’s when about seven riders broke off from the larger group of bicyclists, sliding behind their safety escort vehicle for cover. Anderson stayed with the larger group.
And then suddenly, a white, unmarked box truck hit those bicyclists from behind, pinning them against the safety escort vehicle — a silver Subaru hatchback carrying food, water and spare tires.
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