Posted on 08/30/2024 8:26:01 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
Blue Jackets star forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, died Thursday night, the team said. Police said they were killed while biking Thursday night in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, close to their hometown in Salem County, New Jersey.
Gaudreau, 31, was the Blue Jackets’ top forward after signing in July 2022 as an unrestricted free agent from the Calgary Flames. According to a post on a popular wedding site, Gaudreau and his brother were scheduled to be groomsmen in their sister's wedding Friday in Philadelphia. Gaudreau had two young children, a daughter, Noa, and son, Johnny, with his wife Meredith and both were born in Columbus.
According to information provided by the New Jersey State Police, the Gaudreau brothers were killed after a suspected drunk driver crashed into them on a rural road. Matthew Gaudreau was 29.
Sean Higgins, the driver, was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, and police charged him with two counts of death by auto and took him to the Salem County Correctional Facility. Authorities have not said when Higgins will make his initial court appearance.
According to New Jersey State Police, Higgins, 43, from Woodstown, New Jersey, was traveling north on a county road in a Jeep Grand Cherokee behind a sedan and SUV around 8:20 p.m. on Thursday evening.
Higgins tried to pass the slower-moving sedan and SUV, entered the southbound lanes, passed the slower-moving sedan, and tried to re-enter the northbound lanes, state troopers said. The SUV in front of Higgins moved to the middle of the roadway, splitting the north and south lanes to safely pass the Gaudreau brothers traveling north on the right side of the roadway.
(Excerpt) Read more at dispatch.com ...
Road rage kills
The SUV that moved to center to avoid being passed…also is culpable maybe more so
The accident occurred 20 minutes after the sun went down, a very dangerous time of day.
Your road-rage claim is bogus.
Its beyond horrible- they were saying it was an unspeakable tragedy and certainly it is...
I’ve not read if they came to a final conclusion if alcohol was involved in the auto death of Minnesota rookie CB Khyree Jackson, though cops suspected the car that him his vehicle had a drunk driver...
what a tragedy for the cyclists, their families. it will crush the happiness and joy of the impending wedding event. it’s impossible not to feel this deeply.
Wow. this is huge news in the hockey world.
So very sad
I couldn’t follow the description events well. Dunno if it was the writer or my comprehension, but if I gather it correctly, the cars ahead might have been going slow because of the cyclists. This happened to me once, feeling impatient behind a car doing well below the speed limit and not seeing cyclists ahead due to a gentler curve in the road, so I went left to pass and saw the cyclists when I did, then backed off. I realized what I did wrong and ever since them I try to be more cognizant of why a driver might be going slow before I make any decisions.
He was the son of a classmate in college. Nice family.
This is really sad news.
they were both to be groomsman in their sisters wedding which was supposed to be tonight. Can this story get any worse??..horrific beyond words.
Then I re-read it and saw it was both of Guy’s boys. Oh my God. What a tragedy!
He'll be taking showers in prison in a hurry, presently.
Higgins tried to pass the SUV on the right and struck the two bicyclists in the rear, the highway patrol said.
That would get the death penalty, in my court.
Sentence to be carried out immediately.
Passing illegally on the right is very dangerous, too.
He'll be able to repent at his leisure under his cellmate and his cellmate's friends.
Much of the time on country roads, it's because they're getting close to home.
Many don't pop their turn signal until they're right on top of their driveway.
I would classify passing on the right as "road rage", in most instances.
Many States, counties and/or cities say to give 3 or 6 feet of clearance when passing cyclists. On a 2 lane road that means you’ve got to get into the on-coming lane especially if cyclist’s are traveling side by side. Mixing bicycles and motor vehicles on a well traveled road after dark is a tort lawyers dream.
This should be a death penalty offense
Sunset was about 7:30 p.m.
I wonder what kind of lights they had on the bikes.
Maybe the SUV driver saw Higgins driving erratically and saw the cyclists and tried to protect them.
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