Five bicyclists killed in Nevada crash, 12/10/2020

[Climber]

We both know that's not going to happen unless the driver is found to have been under the influence, and so far there's no indication that he or she was.

In my OP, I mentioned the Michigan man who killed 5 cyclists in 2016 while under the influence of five different drugs and got 40+ years in prison.

I also mentioned the 18-year-old girl who killed 4 cyclists on Hecker Pass in Santa Clara County in 1986. More research reveals that she pleaded guilty and got 750 hours of community service and 3 years probation.

So there's often no justice in traffic deaths. Kill someone while sober and it's a tragic mistake with few consequences. Kill someone in the same circumstances, except DUI, and it's pound-you-in-the-ass state prison.

One case I'm aware of in which a driver got prison for a texting-while-driving motorcyclist death was in Tulare County in 2015. Somehow, the DA got evidence from the driver's phone. Without that, an eyewitness, or a Mirandized confession, there's no way to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

It's probably going to take some very popular figure or their child to get killed by a texting driver before any meaningful changes get made.

It's kind of crazy that getting phone records following a fatality isn't just standard procedure facilitated by the phone companies.

 

[Eldritch]

There are very few true accidents, just end results of careless behavior.

You said the same thing in the PIIDB thread.

 

[Abacinator]

A little more info on the crash ...


https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2020...highway-crash-involving-box-truck/3884141001/

The dead riders were Erin Michelle Ray, 39; Gerrard Suarez Nieva, 41, Michael Todd Murray, 57; Aksoy Ahmet, 48; and Tom Trauger, 57.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/local...s-remembers-active-community-members-2215244/

Evidently, Tom Trauger was CFO of Sports Basement

 

[nutellaBM]

Evidently, Tom Trauger was CFO of Sports Basement

Damn. That hits even closer to home, now.

RIP

 

[PorradaVFR]

Horrific. RIP to the innocent bicyclists just out for a ride.

 

[tuxumino]

It's awful hard to avoid a rear ender on a road bike, hope there's justice for the riders

 

[Killroy1999]

I'm a long time bicycle rider of all kinds. Commuter, road bike and mountain bike racer and bike packer.

I'm never really fearful of riding on the road, but I do like being the top of the food chain when riding mountain bikes.

 

[peterhively]

"The driver of a box truck that plowed into a group of nearly 20 bicyclists last week, killing five, has been charged with DUI resulting in death after methamphetamine was found in his system, officials said."

https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime...r-after-crash-that-killed-5-cyclists-2221742/

 

[DataDan]

It wasn't distraction but plain old impairment--and his life is over:

Driver charged with DUI in crash that killed 5 bicyclists

A box truck driver who hit and killed five bicyclists on U.S. 95 near Searchlight on Thursday had methamphetamine in his system, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, which today announced DUI charges.

Jordan Alexander Barson of Kingman, Ariz., was arrested Tuesday, after blood test results showed the level of meth in his system “far exceeded” the amount needed to cause impairment, District Attorney Steve Wolfson said.

Barson, who was charged with five counts each of DUI and reckless driving, was jailed in Mohave County, Ariz., and is awaiting extradition to Las Vegas, which could come as early as the next few days, Wolfson said.​

The hard part for the DA is proving impairment. Because there's no quantitative threshold (like 0.08 BAC) above which impairment is presumed, it will be a battle of the expert witnesses claiming that the measured level of meth "far exceeded"--or did not--impairment.

 

[ScorpioVI]

It wasn't distraction but plain old impairment--and his life is over:

Driver charged with DUI in crash that killed 5 bicyclists

A box truck driver who hit and killed five bicyclists on U.S. 95 near Searchlight on Thursday had methamphetamine in his system, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, which today announced DUI charges.

Jordan Alexander Barson of Kingman, Ariz., was arrested Tuesday, after blood test results showed the level of meth in his system “far exceeded” the amount needed to cause impairment, District Attorney Steve Wolfson said.

Barson, who was charged with five counts each of DUI and reckless driving, was jailed in Mohave County, Ariz., and is awaiting extradition to Las Vegas, which could come as early as the next few days, Wolfson said.​

The hard part for the DA is proving impairment. Because there's no quantitative threshold (like 0.08 BAC) above which impairment is presumed, it will be a battle of the expert witnesses claiming that the measured level of meth "far exceeded"--or did not--impairment.

Fuck that guy.

The bodycam video should prove he was more than impaired. Fucker couldn't walk a straight line.

 

[DataDan]

A preliminary NTSB report (PDF) on this crash is now available. It's too big to attach, but this excerpt clarifies facts that news reports weren't quite clear on:

A 2019 Subaru Outback (Outback), operated by a 74-year-old male, accompanied the group and was intended to be a safety and support vehicle. As the cyclists, followed by the car, were southbound in the right lane of US-95 and approaching mile marker 34 near Searchlight, Nevada, they encountered a significant headwind and seven of them dropped back and took up positions behind the Outback. The car and the seven bicyclists continued traveling in the right lane of US-95.

At the same time, a 2019 Isuzu NPR-HD box truck (truck), owned by Penske Leasing and Rental Company, leased to, and operated by Roadrunner Transport AZ Incorporated, driven by a 45-year-old male, was also southbound in the right lane of US-95 and approaching the Outback and cyclists from behind. The truck continued forward and into the group, striking the cyclists and colliding with the left rear of the Outback.​

So they were in the #2 travel lane, not the "bicycle lane" as reported elsewhere (actually a wide shoulder with rumble strips that would preclude bicycles).

Today, the truck driver, extradited from Arizona in December, was denied bail, the judge citing flight risk and up to 100 years in prison if convicted. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal, behind the paywall.

 

[budman]

Thanks for the update DD.

The truck driver seems to be being dealt with appropriately.

 

[Eldritch]

A preliminary NTSB report (PDF) on this crash is now available. It's too big to attach, but this excerpt clarifies facts that news reports weren't quite clear on:

A 2019 Subaru Outback (Outback), operated by a 74-year-old male, accompanied the group and was intended to be a safety and support vehicle. As the cyclists, followed by the car, were southbound in the right lane of US-95 and approaching mile marker 34 near Searchlight, Nevada, they encountered a significant headwind and seven of them dropped back and took up positions behind the Outback. The car and the seven bicyclists continued traveling in the right lane of US-95.

At the same time, a 2019 Isuzu NPR-HD box truck (truck), owned by Penske Leasing and Rental Company, leased to, and operated by Roadrunner Transport AZ Incorporated, driven by a 45-year-old male, was also southbound in the right lane of US-95 and approaching the Outback and cyclists from behind. The truck continued forward and into the group, striking the cyclists and colliding with the left rear of the Outback.​

So they were in the #2 travel lane, not the "bicycle lane" as reported elsewhere (actually a wide shoulder with rumble strips that would preclude bicycles).

Today, the truck driver, extradited from Arizona in December, was denied bail, the judge citing flight risk and up to 100 years in prison if convicted. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal, behind the paywall.

Cell Phone in a large rental truck. Yup.