Update: Police say driver in Italian cyclist crash was smoking marijuana; death toll rises to 8

[The Straight Story]

Car plows into group of cyclists in Italy, 8 dead

ROME — A speeding car plowed head-on into a group of cyclists in southern Italy on Sunday morning, killing eight of them, officials said. The driver had been smoking marijuana, police said.

Bent, mangled bikes were strewn about the scene, and the sheet-draped corpses dotted the two-lane road near Lamezia Terme, in the Calabrian "toe" of boot-shaped Italy where the accident occurred.

In addition to the eight cyclists killed, four people were injured, said Gianluca Gioia, a spokesman for ANAS, the agency that runs Italy's state roads and highways. Police confirmed the toll.

The ANSA news agency said the driver, who was slightly injured, was placed under arrest. A police spokesman who declined to give his name said the man, a Moroccan national, had tested positive for marijuana.

A preliminary investigation showed the speeding car ran headfirst into the group of cyclists who were riding in the opposite direction on state road 18, according to the highway authority.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7325333.html

[hobbit709]

1. The test doesn't prove impairment.

Speeding and stoned are rarely coincident.

[midnight]

2. Science is an inconvient tool....

[hobbit709]

4. you can test positive for marijuana weeks after last smoking

Prove to me that there is actual impairment at that point.

The test only shows marijuana metabolites in your system. It does not address levels, nor has there ever been an actual impairment level determined, unlike the alcohol test.

[eShirl]

12. Maybe inconvenient for people who want it to say what it does not.

[Renew Deal]

3. Yesterday there was a story about a pothead that was beheading people while high.

Now this. What makes potheads so crazy?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4641919&mesg_id=4641919

[WingDinger]

9. Sober people do murder more often. Should we mandate being high?

[notadmblnd]

10. rofl

:rofl: you are funny!

[Renew Deal]

18. Thanks!

I'm glad someone realized I was kidding. :hi:

[hobbit709]

11. Reefer Madness II. Harry J. Anslinger would be proud.

[frylock]

17. a pothead?!

he was a member of a drug cartel ffs. not some random stoner.

[Renew Deal]

19. Excuses excuses

:D

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. -1

:silly:

[MadHound]

5. So at some point within the past few weeks, he smoked a joint

However if he was stoned to the gills and driving, he should get the same sort of punishment that somebody who drinks, and then kills a lot of people with a car gets, manslaughter, etc.

Let us note however, drunk drivers have cost this world, this country, far more lives than stoners have.

[SammyWinstonJack]

21. If he were, 'stoned to the gills' it's doubtful he would have been driving.

:shrug:

[former9thward]

24. If he wasn't it is doubtful he would have smashed into a bunch of cyclists.

[WinkyDink]

6. I can believe a car accident, but beheadings? No way. Reactions are impaired, not enhanced.

There was some PCP in that pot.

[notadmblnd]

7. Is there a link to the original article?

I'd like to know if he was smoking MJ just before the accident or if he was just smoking some time in the past 30 days.

[WingDinger]

8. Nor does it say WHEN he had smoked. Maybe a month ago.

This is why a test is crucial for med mar patients.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. It takes a lot of concentration to drive

when a popped seed sets your crotch on fire.

It helps to have a cold bottle of beer in the cup holder, for just such an emergency.

Is there a law against driving if you smoked some weed in the past couple of weeks?

:hi:

very unfortunate for the cyclists' families.

[Blue_Tires]

23. well played...

[Uben]

14. Micro-sleep

Look it up. It happens every day to thousands of people. It happened to me. I was tired. I had gotten up at 3:00 AM to go do some repairs to a rental property getting it ready for the tenants. I put in about 18 hrs of work and was exhausted. Driving home, I obviously went to sleep for maybe 3 seconds. I was only doing 20 mph going around a corner on a street. When I awoke, I was in the ditch heading for a cement driveway curb. Could not stop in time.

You could be a victim anytime, especially driving on two lane highways. If the guy in the oncoming lane goes to sleep and veers into your lane in the two or three seconds he/she is out, it could be fatal. Motorcyclists wouldn't have a chance.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. The driver was speeding, trying to overtake someone on his side of the road

Either bad judgement on his part, or such bad observation that he didn't realised at least 8 cyclists were even there until it was too late.

[MindPilot]

15. The accident occured as the driver attempted to pass a slower vehicle

It's the kind of misjudgement any of us can fall victim to and most of us have. Pull out to pass and suddenly realize "I'm not gonna make it!" Hopefully there is an escape route, but sometimes...

The alleged pot smoking is likely completely coincidental.

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. Sometimes there just isn't enough popcorn.

Another senseless act of pot fueled bicycle carnage.