Five dead, four injured after pickup rams into group of bicyclists near Kalamazoo, Mich.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Five dead, four injured after pickup rams into group of bicyclists near Kalamazoo, Mich.

By Travis M. Andrews
[e-mail]
@travismandrews

June 8 at 1:17 AM

About 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, a blue Chevy pickup truck plowed through a group of bicyclists near Kalamazoo, Mich., killing five and sending four to the hospital. ... Details were scarce as of Wednesday morning.

Two of the victims whose conditions are unknown were sent to Bronson Methodist Hospital and two were sent to the Borgess Medical Center, where one is in critical condition and the other is stable, WOTV reported. No children are among the victims, and no names have been released.

Police had been notified that the driver, who Kalamazoo County prosecutor Jeff Getting said during a news conference is a 50-year-old man from western Michigan, was driving erratically at least 30 minutes before the accident. The City of Kalamazoo police, the Sheriff’s Department and the Kalamazoo Township police all received calls from people concerned about the truck, but none found it before it crashed.

The bicyclists were on their weekly ride and had just reached the 5500 block of Westnedge Avenue in Cooper Township, just north of Kalamazoo. Markus Eberhard was leaving the nearby Markin Glen Park after a day of fishing when he heard someone yell, “Watch out” as the pickup rumbled by him, almost smashing his foot under its tires. Surprised, he looked up and saw the bicyclists in the truck’s path. ... Before he could “tell the bikers to move or watch out,” it struck the group.


Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/08/five-dead-four-injured-after-pickup-rams-into-group-of-bicyclists-near-kalamazoo-mich/

---

This is pushing it for LBN; the WaPo article is 11 hours old, and the collision was yesterday evening. I didn't see anything in LBN about it. Nothing came up in a search. If I'm wrong....

From a closer source:

5 killed, 4 hurt: What we know about deadly truck-bicyclists crash in Kalamazoo

By Angie Jackson | [e-mail]
on June 07, 2016 at 11:14 PM, updated June 08, 2016 at 9:52 AM

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI -- Five cyclists were killed and four were injured Tuesday, June 7, in a hit-and-run crash with a pickup truck near Kalamazoo.

The adult cyclists were struck from behind while riding along the 5500 block of North Westnedge Avenue in Cooper Township.

The 50-year-old man driving the pickup truck was arrested after police found him a short distance away from the disabled vehicle.

Police were looking for the truck at the time of the crash due to calls to three different police agencies from citizens concerned about the man's erratic driving. The calls began about 26 minutes before the collision in the city of Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo Township.

[kentauros]

1. I think this is fine for LBN.

If I can vote on it, I'd like to see it remain.

But, fuck! Not knowing what was going on with that driver (presumably intoxicated as he attempted to flee the scene) it makes me think that until we are a nation where non-motorists are as respected as those in motor-vehicles, that other safety steps will have to be taken. Such as hiring someone in a big vehicle to slowly drive behind your cycling group to at least act as a means of deflecting those drivers unaware of their surroundings, and to generally offer a mass that protects the group.

Really, self-driving vehicles can't get here fast enough.

[kjones]

6. I live in Kalamazoo, it's odd when it comes to peds and cyclists.

There are spots with lots of paths, bike lanes, or at very least, sidewalks and shoulders.
Other spots have...practically nothing...which, of course, you should still be safe to ride
on...but personally, I always put as much distance between me and the cars as possible.
I'm really not sure what the rules are, but I almost always just ride the sidewalk and just
stay extra careful and courteous to peds...and I don't ride all that fast anyway. I think
that's the rules, but, if not, regardless...you can't expect a group of cyclists with children
to ride in, or on the shoulder of, busy traffic. I dont know, its just a mess in general. Some
of it is that non-motorists are disrespected....but I think a lot is that the system is just
terrible. Speeds are too high, roads are in poor condition and there arent a lot of alternatives
(dedicated paths, sidewalks, wide shoulders...w/e).

[maxsolomon]

8. In general, Civil Engineers never contemplated bicycle infrastructure.

Retrofitting entire cities is prohibitively expensive, takes decades, and is nearly impossible to install in a lot of situations. Hell, lots of jurisdictions gave up entirely on PEDESTRIAN infrastructure (like my father's street).

I ride with one thought in my mind: the cars are TRYING to kill me. Bike accordingly. And there's still no guarantee - a peloton should have been completely safe - how can you NOT see it?

This is a terrible, infuriating tragedy, and I find myself bizarrely hoping it's diabetes, instead of another chronic alcoholic who retained driving privileges despite multiple DUIs. Which, statistically, is the more likely cause.

[TexasProgresive]

11. It's odd that in the early days roads and streets were paved to accommodate bicycles..

http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/the-petition-that-paved-america/
The petition that paved America
by carltonreid / on March 21, 2012 / / posted in 1880s, 1890s, American roads, Good Roads movement, League of American Wheelmen

On September 20th, 1893, the Duryea Brothers road-tested the first gasoline-powered American-built automobile. Most people assume it was early cars such as these – and later ones from the likes of Ford and Buick – which paved America.

In fact, the impetus to create better roads didn’t come from the automobile industry, it came from cyclists. In February 1893, the Senate passed a law creating the Office of Road Inquiry. This office – charged with researching best-practice and learning what the Good Roads movement had spent the best part of 20 years lobbying for – later became the Federal Highways Administration.

The Good Roads movement had been started by cyclists. Soon after its formation in 1880, the League of American Wheelmen started to push for better roads. The League of American Wheelmen – and the Good Roads movement – were bankrolled by Albert Pope, a veteran of the Civil War and the manufacturer of Columbia bicycles, the leading brand of the day.

Almost from the founding of the United States, there had been a lack of clarity over the subject of roads and whether they should be paid for by the federal Government or by the States. To modern eyes it seems obvious that roads are nationally important. Or, at least, the strategically important highways ought to be considered so. But this was a minority view in the 19th Century.

[Strelnikov_]

22. Same here, my three laws of bicycling

1) Ride as if cars are trying to kill you.

2) Always stay to the right.

3) You can never be far enough to the right (a nod to the Stark motto 'Winter is Coming')

You can never eliminate all risk, but following 1 and 2 at least reduces the number of rolls of the dice.

[kentauros]

10. Sure, I understand about that kind of thing.

I haven't biked in ages, but when I did, I was cautious to choose routes that were as far from the main roads as possible. And I don't know the area there, so I have no idea, really, of whether they could have been protected or not.

Here in Houston, I've written to the local Parks & Recreation agency about them using rights-of-ways for paths, but so far the only thing like that they're doing is rails to trails programs. Power and pipeline rights-of-way offer a path for bike-ways that have no roads at all around them, other then where they cross roads. Here, those ROWs are everywhere, and could make for something akin to bike-highways. There is simply no reason they can't be used. Yes, negotiate with the ROW owners for a little space to make the paths. But I know from having been in the pipeline industry, unless you're digging in the ground with a backhoe, there's nothing to impact on the surface. Any objections by the pipeline and/or power owners is often without merit.

Use those ROWs with traffic lights made for cyclists at road crossings, and you can start building the infrastructure for bicycles.

[happyslug]

14. Michigan is one of the few states that do NOT forbid bicycles on Sidewalks.

Most states classify bicycles as vehicles and as vehicles must stay off any sidewalk. Michigan permits bicycles on sidewalks:

MICHIGAN VEHICLE CODE (EXCERPT)
Act 300 of 1949

257.660c Operation of bicycle upon sidewalk or pedestrian crosswalk.
Sec. 660c.

(1) An individual operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk or a pedestrian crosswalk shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing a pedestrian.

(2) An individual shall not operate a bicycle upon a sidewalk or a pedestrian crosswalk if that operation is prohibited by an official traffic control device.

(3) An individual lawfully operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk or a pedestrian crosswalk has all of the rights and responsibilities applicable to a pedestrian using that sidewalk or crosswalk.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(sfv2uxihbx3pky2p4ktbobvl))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-257-660c

My home state of Pennsylvania forbade any bicycle on any sidewalk till the 1990s (and REQUIRED bicyclist to use any bike path next to any road). This resulted in the death of a Pedestrian when a high speed cyclist was on such a path next to a road and could not stop when he made a sharp turn and there was the pedestrian standing in the bike path with her baby carriage. The Bicyclist was NOT a fault, neither was the Pedestrian for both were REQUIRED to be on that bike path. The high speed cyclists should have been on the four lane highway next to the path, but by law he was FORBIDDEN to be on that road. It was a badly designed bike path with a lots of up and down hillsides and sharp turns. Going more then five miles per hour was to fast on that path, and the high speed cyclist was doing at least 20 mph. This accident cost the County whose park the path was in a lot of money, thus the state then changed the law dropping the requirement that cyclist use bike paths but also adding that cyclists may ride on non-business district sidewalks.

After that Accident on a bike trail next to a road, the law was changed, forbidding riding of bicycles only is "Business Districts" but did NOT defined what is a "Business District".

This is part of the movement to permit bicycles on sidewalks:

Riding on sidewalks is permitted in Illinois:

https://www.activetrans.org/sites/files/Illinois%20statutes.pdf

And in Ohio:

http://www.ohiobike.org/index.php/digest-of-ohio-bike-laws

Missouri only forbids bicycles in sidewalks in business districts:

http://mobikefed.org/files/bicycle-statutes-flyer.pdf

Indiana does not even consider a bicycle a vehicle, so you must ride on the sidewalk:

http://bikelaws.org/laws/Indiana.pdf

On the other hand New York State makes it ILLEGAL to ride on a sidewalk UNLESS you are under age 12 (and then NOT on a bike with a wheel larger then 26 inch):

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bicyclerules_english.pdf

Texas has no STATE laws as to sidewalks and bicycles, but many local governments do:

http://www.bikelaw.com/2014/06/18/texas-bicycle-laws/

California has a similar policy:

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=21100.&highlight=true&keyword=bicycle+sidewalk

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&division=11.&title=&part=&chapter=1.&article=4.

Tennessee is another state that permits sidewalk riding an local option (i.e. NOT state ban on riding a bicycle on a sidewalk, but local laws may ban it):

http://www.bikelaw.com/2014/06/25/tennessee-bicycle-laws/

[kentauros]

15. I knew Texas didn't have any laws against riding on the sidewalk.

However, I think this site (which I have posted before) makes a good argument on why not to use the sidewalks, especially if you have to cross traffic, whether at a light or a driveway:

[font size="4"]The Crosswalk Slam[/font]



You're riding on the sidewalk, you cross the street at a crosswalk, and a car makes a right turn, right into you. Drivers aren't expecting bikes in the crosswalk, and it's hard for them to see you because of the nature of turning from one street to another, so it's very easy for you to get hit this way. In fact, this collision is so common we've lost track of the number of people who've told us they were hit this way, such as Ray John Ray. One study showed that sidewalk-riding was twice as dangerous as road riding, and another study said it's even more dangerous than that.


How to avoid this collision:

1. Get a headlight. If you're riding at night, a headlight is absolutely essential. It's required by law, anyway.

2. Slow down. Slow down enough that you're able to stop completely if necessary.

3. Don't ride on the sidewalk in the first place. Crossing between sidewalks is a fairly dangerous maneuver. If you do it on the left-hand side of the street, you risk getting slammed as per the diagram. If you do it on the right-hand side of the street, you risk getting slammed by a car behind you that's turning right. Sidewalk riding also makes you vulnerable to cars pulling out of parking lots or driveways. And you're threatening to pedestrians on the sidewalk, who could get hurt if you hit them. These kinds of accidents are hard to avoid, which is a compelling reason to not ride on the sidewalk in the first place. In addition, riding on the sidewalk is illegal in some places.

Some special sidewalks are safe to ride on. If the sidewalk is really long (no need to frequently cross streets), and free of driveways and peds, then there's little risk to you and others. Just make sure when you do cross a street or driveway that you slow down considerably and that you check the traffic in all directions, especially behind you if you're riding with the flow of traffic.

[happyslug]

17. That was my impression of how to bike safety, i.e. stay off the sidewalks

my worse bicycle accidents have been on sidewalks, most are not really designed (or maintained) for wheel vehicles (and that includes baby carriages).

Here is Forester on side walks:

The reviewers consider Wachtel’s study comparing crash rates for roadway cyclists with those of side path (sidewalk) cyclists at the same intersections. Sidewalk cycling is more dangerous. The reviewers did not read, and therefore did not understand, Wachtel’s explanation that side path cycling is excessively dangerous in both directions, even though the raw data appear to show that wrong-way is much more dangerous than right-way.

http://www.johnforester.com/Articles/Safety/Infrastructure%20Impact.pdf

John Forester opposes bike lanes, on the grounds that by separating bikes from cars you make the road more dangerous for bicyclists (and then supplies the data to prove it). Forester wants bikes to be treated like cars, including "Taking the lane" when that is where the cyclist is going (i.e, if a right turning lane appears, but the cyclists wants to go straight, the cyclist should stay in the lane going straight NOT the right lane, even if that means the cars behind the bike can NOT pass the bike).

More on John Forester and "Vehicular Cycling":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicular_cycling



Forester is NOT liked by advocates of bike lanes, for the simple reason Forester sees them as teaching CAR DRIVERS that Bikes should NOT share lanes with cars (which is Forester's position).

Please note, while Forester opposes bike lanes, he does support bike paths and the entire Rails to Trails program. Forester supports the rails to trails for unlike bike lanes, bike paths are completely separate from any road. Forester's objections to bike lanes are that the bikes and cars share the same roads, but different sections of the road. Forester position is if cars and bikes are to share the same road, they should do so as equals not separate and unequal partners.

His own web page:

http://www.johnforester.com/

Forester comment on car-bike accidents:

A crude and generally applicable statement is that 95% of car-bike collisions are caused by turning or crossing movements by either or both parties, and only 5% do not involve turning or crossing.

http://www.johnforester.com/Articles/Government/Against%20FTR.pdf

In simple terms, accidents occur at INTERSECTIONS not straight a ways. Bike lanes make intersections more dangerous by making them more complicated. A car turning right, not only has to look at cars turning into that same lane, but cyclist coming up behind him in the bike lane (in fact the recommended way to handle intersections with a bike lane is for the CAR TO USE THE BIKE LANE TO TURN RIGHT and force any cyclist to pass the car on the car's left and then re-enter the bike lane).

Thus, how does a bike lane prevents accidents at intersections? and the answer is do to NOT using the same lane, bike lanes INCREASES accidents for car drivers turn right from the car lane NOT the bike lane, permitting bikes to come up behind them on their right (and then right in front of the car as the car makes its right turn).

Left turns are a little safer for the car driver can look ahead at any oncoming car or bike coming towards the car.

Sidewalks are often used as "bike lanes" with the same results (and without the ability of the car to "Take" the sidewalk, as car can do with a Bike Lane). Again the problem is a bike coming up behind the car, in the same direction of the car and hitting the intersection at the same time the car turns right.

Thus the problems with Side walks and bikes, is that it is WORSE then a bike path, for with a bike path a car driver turning Right can "take" the bike lane, but can NOT "take" the sidewalk.

I agree with Forester on this, bike lanes are bad. Ride with cars in the same lane as automobiles. Permit Cars to pass when it is safe for cars to do so, but if it is unsafe, leave the cars stay behind you till it is safe for them to pass.

[kentauros]

19. I agree that intersections (and parking-lot entrances/exits) are the biggest problem.

There was an animation posted on DU late last year, I think, and I found a site hosting it as well as some text on it:

This Simple Video Explains How Easy (And Cheap!) It Is To Install Bike Lanes—Without Slowing Traffic

In the example where they add the "bike tracks" there is mention of making intersections safer, though that isn't detailed. Possibly the best way to make them safer is to make all roads one-way, so that you only have traffic turning two possible directions instead of four. That way you could also make traffic lights just for bike traffic while vehicle traffic waits. There are pedestrian intersections in other countries that work that way, so no reason why it couldn't in this country.

Yes, I do agree that taking the whole lane is safest, especially if you are having to cycle past parked cars. Stay away from those doors! There has to be a way of utilizing bike tracks in streets without drivers taking them for granted. And really, I'd say the bike tracks are safest due to how many drivers are distracted these days. Taking a whole lane doesn't make much difference if they aren't looking to begin with.

[jtuck004]

2. In Feb a mass shooting there, now this. Another article shows road rage incidents on the

increase, but this may be just diabetes. Or alchohol.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trying-to-put-the-brakes-on-road-rage/

It didn't used to be this mean before the financiers started selling off the country. I wonder if it is causal, the lack of purposeful, designed, opportunity and hope, vs you're on your own?

[uppityperson]

3. Those were my first thoughts also, diabetes/health issue or dui

[progressoid]

4. This makes me ill.

My brother died when a car hit him on his bike.

6 years ago last week. Just like yesterday.

[irisblue]

13. I am so sorry for your loss

[progressoid]

18. Thanks.

I still have this bookmarked. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8502119

In spite of our fighting, this isn't a bad place.

[Fast Walker 52]

5. Oh my god, how horrible

[hibbing]

7. If it is like in my state, he won't get charged with anything

Unfortunately, bicyclists are fair game in my state. Rarely are the drivers responsible for killing a cyclist charged with any violation. Often they blame the cyclist.


Peace

[NutmegYankee]

16. It depends on the reason it happened.

If it was intentional, it's murder. If it was inattention to the road (texting, etc) it's negligent homicide. If the driver had a medical emergency that was unexpected (heart attack, etc), it's just an accident and there is no criminal (and often no real civil) liability.

[yourpaljoey]

9. I quit cycling in town years ago. Too many close calls.

Bike lanes mean nothing to drivers around here.

[TexasProgresive]

12. I heard this on our local and NBC news this morning

It makes me very sad. I don't know what caused this man to strike these cyclists. We had a similar accident several years ago. It was a group riding and one cyclist was struck and killed. The 1st thought of many cyclists and motor cyclists was, "He did it on purpose in a rage." The stories of the other riders dispelled that. They reported that the man was over come with grief at the accident. He was returning home from an all night shift at a power plant. It's possible he fell asleep or was not as alert as he should've been.

I worked the midnight shift for 13 years and I can attest to driving with diminished capacity. The fact that the man in Kalamazoo fled the scene can have several reasons. We should not jump to conclusions.

[Blue_Tires]

20. So far it appears to be malicious...

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2016/06/arraignment.html

[Eleanors38]

21. The people of Michigan did the right thing by alerting LEO. Too bad...

police could not find the driver in time.

In Texas, I have seen REPEAT-DWI offenders who had fatal wrecks get as much as 65 yrs for some level of murder.