Bad day in Searchlight. (Laughlin: dangerous, safe, moving to)

[Cold Warrior]

At least 5 bicyclists dead.

[DAXhound]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

At least 5 bicyclists dead.

That's horrible. I used to drive that from Laughlin to Vegas... Always strict traffic enforcement in Searchlight, otherwise a pretty routine drive. It does get windy up there, but visibility is good.

[ChrisMT]

Personally, I never had the slightest inclination to take up road biking and this is the biggest reason besides being stuck on noisy roads with cars instead of out in nature.

That is why I took up mountain biking, so far the only danger from other beings has been a rattlesnake strike that gave me a flat tire and a wild horse that kicked out as I dropped down into a ravine and we scared each other....now all the falls and close calls from me losing control of my bike or getting off trail into dangerous riding and the times I nearly passed-out from exhaustion on long climbs....those are a different kind of danger :/

I have a good friend that survived a hit and run while riding his road bike here...a passing motorist found him bloody and unconscious and called Care Flight to save his life...it's a big danger.

[FML157]

Terrible. Sounds like the support vehicle was driving on the right vehicle lane with some cyclists trailing behind (for wind protection/drafting). I'm assuming the support vehicle was driving at 20 MPH.

My theory is that either : The box truck displayed bad judgement by not moving to the left lane immediately upon seeing the group of cyclists from afar (I'm assuming you would see a pack of 10+ cyclists & slower moving vehicle with hazards on at least a mile away) waiting to the very last moment to switch lanes, accidently striking the riders. OR the box truck was on the left lane and a gust of wind caused it to swerve right, resulting in the truck hitting the pack of cyclists.

The box truck struck the cyclists riding behind the support vehicle, crushing them against the support vehicle. Concurrently, the support vehicle pushed forward and struck the cyclists riding in front of the support vehicle.

[Cold Warrior]

Why is the support vehicle called a 'safety vehicle'? Does it make it safe for bicycles traveling at 15 mph to share a highway with cars traveling at 65 mph?

[ChrisMT]

The bikers are supposed to stay in front of the escort for safety. The escort vehicle will have flashers on and be visible.

My guess is that the driver of the box truck only saw the escort vehicle's flashers, sort of an optical illusion that made the cyclists behind it invisible to him...camouflaged by the blinking lights. It wasn't safe for the bikes to behind the vehicle.

Such a horrible tragedy

[bthp223]

Updated to add the truck driver was arrested and taken into custody.....HAF on crystal meth. So who knows what he was seeing. How long he had gone without sleep.

Tragedy all around, imho Darwin was sure to rear his head eventually. No way would you catch anyone in my family riding on those roads regardless of circumstances. Obviously it’s not safe.

[orca17]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

Does it make it safe for bicycles traveling at 15 mph to share a highway with cars traveling at 65 mph?

I travel US 95 northbound to work every weekday. More times than I can count, cyclists are riding on the shoulder of the road - a divided highway (in the area where I travel, anyway) with a 70 MPH speed limit. I move over to the left lane when I see a cyclist (unless I am being passed and can't), mainly because I don't want a crosswind (which frequently happens) to blow me into the cyclist.