exime

At least five cyclists killed and another two injured as 'hit-and-run' truck plows into their weekly club ride in Michigan




Update:

Pictures and names of cyclists killed

dougphoto

horrible

Campag4life

pretty reprehensible that the police were notified 30 minutes prior to the crash about the truck driving erratically by 3 callers and the truck was not apprehended prior to the crash.
Stunning and horrible. So sorry to hear. I used to live in MI tho not near Kzoo.
No amount of punishment...sounds like the driver was drunk...can atone for what happened.
Dregs of society meets well intentioned. Worse case.

mcours2006

Could have been a minivan full of children being hit from behind, pedestrians walking on the side of the road, etc. But yes, horrible. Would have been fine if this driver crashed into a giant oak tree and killed only himself in the wreck, but it makes you angry when stupid people do stupid things and others suffer for it. Hope they throw the book at him.

Condolences to the cyclists' families. And prayers to the four still recovering in hospital.

sevenmag

What a terrible story. My heart breaks for those families.

hunterr41

Prayers for survivors and families of those killed. So Sad.

Dave Cutter

The number of deaths and life altering consequences due to alcohol and drugs is almost unimaginable for many... if not most. I myself am not willing to discard those wasted life's.


Addictions (and other such human failings) have always destroyed more of us humans... than any outside influence. After countless thousands of years of the same old solutions I'd hope mankind could mature enough see past their own fears and move towards compassionate solutions. None of this will be resolved with the same old... more of the same.

mcours2006

You are obviously more enlightened than I.

Dave Cutter

Not at all. Maybe I've just seen more loss.... or just lived longer.

If those near by the accident(?) had picked up stones and threw them at the motorist until he died. Nothing would have changed... in all of human behavioral history.

But.... modern man has at least advanced to where we help the injured... even the ones that cause the injuries.

Yet we still remain stuck in a punishment mindset. But, I think we are nearing a realization that if we set aside our fears (and the anger caused by fear)... we can find actual solutions.

Inpd

I don't know what sadder, the story or the comments on the story. Many comments take apparent joy in knowing theses cyclists are dead.

mcours2006

Why a credible news service allows people to comment on the stories is beyond me. This one was particularly upsetting:
Bicyclists do this on the country road I live on and I'm surprised there aren't more accidents. Nobody wants to hit anyone (or anything) while driving a vehicle, but bicyclists need to act responsibly. As well, they should be licensed, insured for the same amount you would insure a vehicle, and the bicycle should be registered and inspected just like a vehicle. They ride on curvy winding roads around corn fields and other crops, and if you are driving a vehicle (to which the roads were designed for), you may not see them until you're right up on them (going the speed limit). In America, vehicle owners are the ones paying the transportation tax, and maintaining the roadways. Bicyclists are using them irresponsibly and it isn't shocking when one gets hit. The person you feel most sorry for is the driver of the vehicle that didn't intentionally harm anyone and was abiding by the law when they came around a corner and ran into bicyclists riding 4 wide in the middle of the road.

It's so ridiculous that one just has to shake one's head.

therhodeo

Daily Mail is basically a tabloid. Reading their comments section and expecting something besides stupidity is completely on you guys.

mcours2006

It's not just this particular news service, it's other more credible ones too. I'd no idea what type of news service the Daily Mail is.

Hiro11

The comments in the article are hardly surprising but completely infuriating. The comments convey a uniquely irritating combination of ignorance, arrogance, entitlement and lack of compassion. What kind of ******* thinks an article in which five innocent people were killed is the right place to blame the victims and loudly (and anonymously) proclaim your idiocy? I hate the internet sometimes.

chaadster

That must have been a macabre scene; so many dead is, fortunately, rare to happen in a single cycling incident.

I haven't heard this reverb through local cycling channels yet-- I'm 2hrs from K-zoo-- but this will have a chilling effect on our smallish, Michigan cycling community, I'm sure. We all know there are risks, but when it strikes so close to home, on such familiar terms, we reflexively reevaluate things, but in the end, we are not the sole controllers of our destinies. Hi-viz, mirrors, lights, Varia radar... no guarantees.

My sympathies to all who are impacted by this tragedy, the driver included; culpability is an awful burden for that person to carry.

Walter

Damn. I don't have much else to say. Anything I'd say about the driver would just be venting and there's no point in that.
A true heartfelt and sad Vaya con Dios to the dead and God's Peace to their families. Hopes and wishes for recovery to the injured.
I will try to keep track of this story to see what the justice system does.

Inpd

The point is the people who are writing these comments are driving and its not an uncommon position.

It's not as though only smart people who read the NYT drive or dumb people who read tabloids drive. It's both.

Unfortunately, if you get hit there is probably a good chance the driver won't stop, particularly so if its deserted area where you need them the most.

Marcus_Ti

You're much more of an optimist than I.

Want to know how many motorists I saw behind wheel in traffic with a smartphone blatantly glued to their ear illegally this morning? How about how many of said motorists refused to signal their lane changes or turns?

Humans in the USA are rapidly approaching being too stupid to live. A few years, people may not even know how to put food in their mouth anymore. All these reckless behaviors that everyone KNOWS and is TOLD about being reckless and idiotic and things you never do....they go and do anyway.

2702

Ugh, another reminder why I don't ride main busy roads pretty much at all. Off road riding is where its at. Don't care if I can't go fast at all, its still 2 wheels fun.

Reynolds 

That's terrible. I had a very similar "accident" some years ago, zig-zagging drunk driver hit me from behind and tried to run away.

Hiro11

Some outlets are reporting that children were among the victims.

exime

Good point. Doesn't matter what site they are commenting on, they are still drivers on the road with hate-filled beliefs.

Very true. When I carpool, I have the chance to look at people in traffic and half of them are "texting" or on some other app. Pretty scary. I also recognized my dad's friend on the highway commute today (thanks to his vanity plate) who was turning without signals and even cut someone off.. he's an orthopedic surgeon.

GravelMN

Compassion must be balanced with justice. When you harm others through intent or negligence, there has to be accountability. I'm all for treatment for addicts who are amenable to treatment, but when you knowingly break the law and cause deaths and injury, such treatment should take place behind bars. It's one thing to be an addict, it's another thing to willfully place others in danger because of your addiction i.e. getting behind the wheel while under the influence. I'm not for lynch mobs but neither am I for patting them on the head and making them promise not to do it again. I've seen WAY too many innocent lives lost or forever changed by drunks on their third or fourth DUI and/or driving under suspension.

scotch

This is the kind of story that makes me consider selling my road bike. Jesus H. Christ. 5 people, and maybe more of the injured. If it wasn't deliberate, how the hell do you not see a group this large, even if you are hammered and/or texting??? Horrendous.

bmthom.gis

The comments were even worse in Fox. Just blatantly horrible. I hope this criminal can never again get a drivers license after doing time in jail.