By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Five dead bicyclists.
Families and friends of five people are grieving today because their loved ones were killed while they were riding a bicycle in Southern Nevada outside Las Vegas Thursday morning. The five road cyclists were part of a group pedaling southbound on U.S. highway 95 between Boulder City and Searchlight. A motorist in a white box truck smashed into them from behind, also injuring three other cyclists. About 18 bicyclists were pedaling the 130-mile annual “Nipton Loop” through the desert — a ride through Southern Nevada and California that has been done for 15 years.
As someone who was nearly killed by a distracted motorist while bicycling on Florida’s east coast in March 2017, my heart sank when I heard the news today. I survived being struck while bicycling in St. Lucie County, just outside of Fort Pierce, Florida three hours north of Miami.
I had flashbacks today when at about 1 p.m. Thursday Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Travis Smaka told media that this horrific crash that claimed the lives of five bicyclists happened at 9:39 a.m. Four men and one woman lost their lives. A SAG vehicle was accompanying the bicyclists, who were split in two packs — one in front of the Subaru escort car and the other behind it. Here’s the Nevada Highway Patrol media release issued Friday evening:
Preliminary investigation revealed that on Thursday November 10, 2020, at approximately 9:39 am, a white 2019 Subaru Outback was traveling southbound on US95 approaching Clark County Mile Marker 34 in the far right travel lane. The Subaru was an escort vehicle for two packs of bicyclists located in both the front and rear of the vehicle. A white Isuzu box truck was also traveling southbound approaching the Subaru and the bicyclists. For reasons unknown, the driver of the box truck allowed the front of the vehicle to strike several of the slower moving bicycles before striking the rear of the Subaru. After impact, seven of the bicycle riders were ejected from their bicycles. Five of the ejected riders, succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash and were pronounced deceased on scene. One of the ejected bicyclists was airlifted to UMC Trauma in critical condition and has since been upgraded to stable condition. The driver of the Subaru was also transported to UMC Trauma in stable condition. The seventh bicyclist ejected suffered minor injuries and did not transport to a hospital. The driver of the box truck was not injured. Investigators do not suspect impairment at this time and this crash is still in the very early stages of the investigation.
One of the injured bicyclists was taken to UMC Trauma Center and was in critical condition, and has been upgraded to stable.
The motorist was cooperating with the investigation, Smaka said, noting impairment did not appear to be a factor. “It’s a horrific tragedy. We just lost the lives of five people,” he said. Nevada Highway Patrol did not ID the truck driver. The truck’s right front was smashed in. The ride was celebrating a cyclist’s recent retirement from his police job. It’s still unclear how the truck driver could not see a group of 18 bicyclists.
It’s upsetting and tragic news, which was reported in newspapers from New York to San Francisco. The scope of the tragedy is horrifying, and with a heavy heart we report that authorities have identified the five killed bicyclists as Erin Ray, Gerrard Nieva, Tom Trauger, Mike Murray, and Aksoy Ahmet. Friends are mourning and sharing heartbreaking memories on some of the lost cyclists’ Facebook pages. Here’s the official notice from the county coroner’s office:
LVSportsBiz.com spoke with Smaka today about whether criminal charges will be filed against the truck driver who has yet to be identified. We did not hear back about charges against the driver.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating this crash: “NTSB has opened a safety investigation into the 12-10-20 collision involving a group of bicyclists and a commercial truck on U.S. 95 near Searchlight, Nevada. The NTSB will coordinate with Nevada Highway Patrol, who are conducting their own investigation. NTSB investigators are not traveling to the accident site at this time but will work with local authorities on the documentation of the scene and the collection of evidence.”
As of 6:30 a.m. Friday, 76 people shared heartbreaking thoughts on the FB page of Ray, a realtor in Las Vegas and triathlete. These are just some examples.
Ghost Bikes Las Vegas is an organization that installs white ghost bike memorials at sites where bicyclists were killed by motorists, and their logo, sadly, is now appearing on many bicyclists’ profiles on social media. Here is one graphic that was created Thursday night.
At an intellectual level, outside the raw emotions of coping with this horrifying news, I’m not completely surprised a motorist plowed into a group of bicyclists. I ride my bicycle a lot on roads and see a lot of dangerous motorist behavior. So much speeding on the roads, so much distracted driving, so little patience, so many angry people operating giant two-ton, four-wheeled bullets. Some people are literally incompetent at operating a motorized vehicle with bad eyesight and unsure hand-eye coordination. Others are literally cutting corners, rushing here and there and not looking for bicyclists and pedestrians.
And we as a country have come to accept killed bicyclists and pedestrians as business as usual. In 2018, 854 bicyclists were killed in crashes involving motorized vehicles. We have a broken system of educating and licensing people to operate motorized vehicles in this country. So many friends say they no longer ride bicycles on roads because they are tired of nearly being struck by people operating cars and trucks.
The road bicyclists were experienced cyclists and it was an ideal day to be pedaling here in Southern Nevada. It was mid-60s, good visibility and sunny. And of course the predictable media and social media question: why were they biking on U.S. highway 95? The bicyclists have been there before on that same road and, “They have never had any problems,” NHP officer Smaka said. Besides, bicyclists have a right to bike anywhere. This is a corridor used to reach Laughlin at the Nevada-Arizona border and the stretch where the crash occurred has two lanes going north and two lanes going south with shoulder space.
Many of the bicyclists in the group were customers at Las Vegas Cyclery, a local bike shop I use only a few miles from my home. The workers there, and I know some of them, were very upset and coping best they can with this horrific news. Owner Jared Fisher, an experienced long-distance bicyclist, said his employees are coping best they can with the traegedy.
In front of Las Vegas Cyclery is a memorial ghost bike artwork honoring the memory of bicyclists killed by motorists in Clark County.
But this display of ghost bikes should be in front of the Clark County government center or Las Vegas City Hall for every single person to see as they enter and leave the public buildings of the governments that represent us. Only awareness and education will reduce the number of bicyclists killed by motorists.
Every bicycle ride is an exercise in risk management because I can control my actions but I can’t control the person operating a car or truck who is sharing the public right-of-way — our right-of-way that I have a right to as a bicyclist as much as the person operating a motorized vehicle. Our nation needs a network of paved trails for bicyclists. I use the limited number of paved trails in the metro Las Vegas area. But there needs to be so many more — more than ever before.
There will be a drive-through vigil for the five bicyclists at the Ghost Bike Memorial at Las Vegas Cyclery Saturday from 10 am-6 pm and a virtual memorial at 3 p.m., according to a Facebook event page.
On Friday morning, bicyclists began sharing memories, thoughts and comments about this tragedy on Facebook. Here are a few examples of the posts.