Tour de Palm Springs Fatality

Runs with Scissors said:
I am in no way defending the piece of garbage who killed the cyclist, but I want you take a close look at this shot, on Dillon Road, from the 2011 TdPS. Notice anything wrong???

View attachment 36596

Yeah, that. It's like that on every TdPS. Roadies (and I'm one of them, but not one of them) really need to get their sh!t together, or they're gonna get shut out of roads like this. See: https://www.bicycling.com/culture/t...nts-to-tax-every-cyclist-who-visits-the-state

Read the whole thing. Yes, there are people in power who think this way.
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Simple fix, close all of the one lane/narrow route roads to other traffic for the entirety of the event. Problem solved.
 
SnakeCharmer said:
Simple fix, close all of the one lane/narrow route roads to other traffic for the entirety of the event. Problem solved.
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Dillon Rd is pretty much the only way in/out for the dilapidated, hills have eyes like residences out there. I highly doubt any of the locals are into road biking and would be onboard with a closure.

My wife’s grandpa used to live there and we drove past his old house a few years back and it is extra creepy in those parts. He now lives on a ranch in Mexico so I guess he likes his space.
 
NewEnglander said:
Or they could put in a proper breakdown lane. If they are going to host events like this there needs to be at least two lanes or a lane and a solid breakdown lane. And yes, the riders need to ride single file.
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Idiots like the idiot who killed a rider during this event would ignore the barriers if the road was otherwise open to traffic.

OTOH, idiots like the idiot who killed a rider during this event would probably also ignore a closure.
 
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Runs with Scissors said:
I am in no way defending the piece of garbage who killed the cyclist, but I want you take a close look at this shot, on Dillon Road, from the 2011 TdPS. Notice anything wrong???

View attachment 36596

Yeah, that. It's like that on every TdPS. Roadies (and I'm one of them, but not one of them) really need to get their sh!t together, or they're gonna get shut out of roads like this. See: https://www.bicycling.com/culture/t...nts-to-tax-every-cyclist-who-visits-the-state

Read the whole thing. Yes, there are people in power who think this way.
Click to expand...

If you look at the video, and your picture, there is no way you can have all the riders in the "Bike Lane". In some spots, the BL is nonexistent.
Should the organizer have chosen a safer route? Maybe.
 
Sidewalk said:
People tend to over estimate what is safe, and over estimate their skills.

I've spent enough time on the race track to see what happens when people run out of skill, and guilty of it enough myself.
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It's human nature to push the limit. It's how records are broken and how skills are improved. But with taking risks comes the possibility of failure and sometimes that failure can be catastrophic.

Also, at times like this, there is a fine line between sanity and insanity.

We are our own best friend and our own worst enemy.
 
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Cornholio said:
I can’t even imagine what the family members and injured are going through, as well as those who witnessed it and the aftermath. Tragic in more ways than words can describe.

We should fly a bicycle specific flag at places like Oaks/Luge/etc that honors our fallen fellow riders.
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Nationwide, it's a staggering number: In 2015, 818 people lost their lives in bicycle/motor vehicle crashes, more than two people every day of the year in the U.S. (http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/data/factsheet_crash.cfm)

In Orange County alone we've averaged one 'cyclist death from motor vehicle' per month in recent years. Here's an OC Register article: https://www.ocregister.com/2017/05/...aths-orange-county-person-killed-every-month/. I'm afraid to read the Comments.

On my road rides of the last few days, I thankfully experienced lots of attentive, respectful drivers. I also had one driver drift into my lane as they drove past me, and it made me wonder if I'd just had a brush with death or serious injury.

I generally ride with clear intention and high visibility, but realize I'm invisible to many drivers. They're on mental auto-pilot or distracted by technology or substance or emotion and just don't see us. Despite the existence of wide, paved bike lanes, I opted for riding the sidewalk in many places on Margarita Parkway, the bridge in and out of RSM, and up El Toro Road past the Toll Road. The RSM bridge was even posted No Bikes, but I was prepared to slow for other users and liked having at least a curb between me and the 2-ton vehicles.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of these Tour de Palm Springs riders, and I'm outraged that penalties are so lax for drivers who kill or endanger cyclists.
 
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SnakeCharmer said:
It's human nature to push the limit. It's how records are broken and how skills are improved. But with taking risks comes the possibility of failure and sometimes that failure can be catastrophic.

Also, at times like this, there is a fine line between sanity and insanity.

We are our own best friend and our own worst enemy.
Click to expand...
That's just it, no one thinks they are "pushing the limit" by driving 85+ MPH on the road. They think it is completely safe and sane, and that it is ludicrous that they are not legally allowed to do so. It isn't until too late that they realize they are on the limits of their performance envelope when they have to make a sudden maneuver and find they were totally in control, and now totally out of control.

My old hobby of motorcycle racing on the track is a good example of pushing my limits, improving skills, and trying to break records. I was always trying to brake that little later, get on the throttle that little bit sooner, carry that little bit of extra corner speed. I knew I was on the edge of my limits the whole time, and my goal was to try and stretch that limit. You're not trying to do that when you set your cruise control for 90 MPH driving to Vegas.

That's the problem. We think we are in control.




mtnbikej said:
I dunno.....

https://www.bikerumor.com/2018/02/07/why-cant-self-driving-cars-see-cyclists/
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In 2004 DARPA made no award in the Grand Challenge. The vehicle that drove farthest autonomously made it 7 miles.

7 miles in the desert with no traffic, pedestrians, cyclists, red lights, stop signs, etc.
 
No
Sidewalk said:
That's just it, no one thinks they are "pushing the limit" by driving 85+ MPH on the road. They think it is completely safe and sane, and that it is ludicrous that they are not legally allowed to do so. It isn't until too late that they realize they are on the limits of their performance envelope when they have to make a sudden maneuver and find they were totally in control, and now totally out of control.

My old hobby of motorcycle racing on the track is a good example of pushing my limits, improving skills, and trying to break records. I was always trying to brake that little later, get on the throttle that little bit sooner, carry that little bit of extra corner speed. I knew I was on the edge of my limits the whole time, and my goal was to try and stretch that limit. You're not trying to do that when you set your cruise control for 90 MPH driving to Vegas.

That's the problem. We think we are in control.





In 2004 DARPA made no award in the Grand Challenge. The vehicle that drove farthest autonomously made it 7 miles.

7 miles in the desert with no traffic, pedestrians, cyclists, red lights, stop signs, etc.
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Not only have I ALWAYS believed that ONLY law enforcement should possess ANY type of fire arm, but I also think that the fact that track cars are for legal for street use is ridiculous.

Again, nobody to blame but mankind.
 
Update...

Link to: Bicycling.com Article...

Driver in Deadly Tour de Palm Springs Crash Charged With Murder
The 21-year-old was allegedly high and speeding at the time of the collision that killed one cyclist and injured another
Matt Bevilacqua
driver-kills-cyclist-1523983053.jpg

Getty ImagesToa55
A driver accused of killing one cyclist and injuring another at this year’s Tour de Palm Springs has been charged with murder.

Ronnie R. Huerta, 21, allegedly plowed into a group of riders after losing control of his car, a Ford sedan, during the February race in Southern California. Witnesses told authorities that Huerta was speeding at more than 100 mph when he veered off the road, striking two cyclists before rolling over.

One of the crash victims, 49-year-old Mark Kristofferson, was pronounced dead at the scene. His girlfriend, fellow cyclist Alyson Lee Akers, 50, was seriously injured and airlifted to a nearby hospital with lacerations to her head.

Though Huerta was initially charged with vehicular manslaughter and released on $75,000 bail, prosecutors at his arraignment last week introduced new charges of murder, DUI, and driving with a suspended license. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on $1 million bail.

It’s not often that prosecutors will seek murder in the case of deadly car-bike crashes. What likely made the difference here was the revelation that Huerta had allegedly been high at the time of the collision, as well as his poor driving record.

According to the Desert Sun, a Palm Springs newspaper, Huerta was pulled over for speeding three times last year and has additional citations for running a stop sign, using a cell phone while driving, and making an unsafe lane change. The Associated Press noted that his license was suspended in December after he failed to appear in court for his reckless driving charges.

ronnie-r-huerta-mugshot-1523983336.jpg

Ronnie R. Huerta
California Highway Patrol

Charles Pickett, Jr., was also allegedly driving drugged when he plowed his pickup truck into a group of cyclists in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in June 2016, killing five and injuring four others. He faces five counts of second-degree murder. His trial, delayed after his lawyers appealed the murder charges, is slated to proceed this month after the Michigan Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal.

Would Huerta be facing down murder if he hadn’t been on drugs during the Tour de Palm Springs crash? It’s hard to say, but law enforcement will often neglect to even charge drivers in the first place if they hit and kill a cyclist (granted no drugs or alcohol are involved). A quick Google search reveals foursuch cases in four different states in the last year alone.

What we do know is that the road where the crash occurred, near the town of Indio Hills toward the end of the 100-mile race, is a hilly straightaway with a posted speed limit of 50 mph. There’s no reason why Kristofferson, Akers, or any other racer should have expected a speeding, out-of-control driver to swerve into them.

As cyclist Randy Ice told the Desert Sunat the time, “There’s nothing the organizers could’ve done to prevent [the crash], short of closing the entire road down. No safety tip in the world is going to stop that.”
 
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