Originally Posted by
jppe
It’s hard for me to tell from the photos if the paved shoulder is wide enough to comfortably ride in a double pace line.
I have ridden on that road (Hwy 95) a number of times. The paved shoulder to the right of the rumble strip is too narrow for a double pace line and too narrow for the support vehicle. It is speculation of course but I believe that the support car was straddling the rumble strip which would put it partly in the right travel lane. The riders would likely have been in a double line behind the car with some riders to the right of the rumble strip and some to the left. The ones who were struck were probably in the left of that group. I suspect that there were plenty of flashing lights among them including the cars hazard lights. Combine that with generally brightly colored jerseys and the large size of the group, along with the higher viewing position of the truck driver and it seems pretty clear that the driver of the box truck was not paying attention. He could have run into a school bus or anything else just as easily! It is a shame that these distracted drivers usually hurt others and not themselves.