Single Ghost Bike Memorializes All Five Cyclists Killed By Truck Driver Outside Las Vegas Dec. 10
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Pat Treichel said the deaths of five bicyclists outside Las Vegas Dec. 10 felt different. And on Saturday morning, he said he knew it was different.
The leader of the Ghost Bikes Las Vegas organization said his group has been contacted by bicyclists and leaders from across the country and also the world during the past five weeks of heartbreak, anguish and pain.
Today, he joined 350 other cyclists and the family members and friends of the five people killed by a truck driver accused of 14 felonies to unveil a ghost bike that captures the scale of the horrific loss of lives on U.S. highway 95 between Boulder City and Searchlight about 60 miles south of Las Vegas in Southern Nevada.
It’s a single ghost bike for five representing TEAMG — the lost lives of Tom Trauger, Erin Ray, Aksoy Ahmet, Mike Murray and Gerrard Nieva.
The loved ones and friends spoke at the ghost bike memorial ceremony in a big parking lot outside the Las Vegas Aviators ballpark in Downtown Summerlin.
The five-person ghost bike will sit about a mile away for a month or two at the corner of Charleston Boulevard and the 215 beltway trail next to the 215 exit ramp as a grim and graphic reminder to motorists to not crash into bicyclists and to not kill or injure them. It’s a high-profile location because motorists frequently drive their cars off the beltway ramp and make a right turn on red on Charleston Boulevard without looking for bicyclists and pedestrians who are crossing Charleston on the beltway trail.
The speakers’ messages were crystal clear: there is enough room on the roads for all cyclists, motorists and pedestrians to use; that these horrific crashes are just that — crashes, not accidents; and that motorists need to be alert and look for cyclists and pedestrians. The Clark County DA’s office said the accused truck driver, Jordan Alexander Barson, 45, of Kingman, Arizona, had high levels of methamphetamine in his system when he plowed his white Isuzu box truck into the group of cyclists on the 130-mile, two-state loop ride.
If motorists heard the pain, sorrow and heartbreak in the voices of this morning’s speakers, they would stop at red lights before turning right, not run red lights at intersections and not only pass a cyclist by the minimum three-foot distance but also move over a lane as required under Nevada state law when passing cyclists.
Nearly $300,000 has been raised toward a goal of $1 million for the five cyclists. Three other bicyclists were also injured in the crash. Here is the local Channel 5 coverage.
