Federal Transportation Report On Dec. 10, 2020 Truck Crash That Killed Five Bicyclists South Of Las Vegas Says Cyclists Contributed To Crash By Riding In Right Travel Lane
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In a mere two days, the families and friends of five bicyclists killed by a truck driver on meth 60 miles south of the Las Vegas metro area will remember and grieve their loves ones again on Dec. 10.
And now, anger will inevitably be part of the equation, too, after a federal transportation agency that studied the Dec. 10, 2020 crash blamed the bicyclists for being on the road in the right travel lane when they were struck by the box truck driver on rural highway US-95 near Searchlight, Nevada.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued a 16-page report on the crash. LVSportsBiz.com uses the term, “crash,” to describe when a car or truck smashes into a bicyclist. The NTSB uses the term. “collision.”
There you have it on page 14 of the federal transportation report: “Contributing to the crash was the decision made by the bicyclists to ride in the right travel lane of a 75-mph roadway.” In other words, the federal government is blaming the victims for riding bicycles on a road.
For bicyclists, this passage on page 13 of the report smacks of blaming the victim:
Nearly two years ago, twenty bicyclists were pedaling the “Nipton Loop,” an annual 130-mile bicycle ride that took in both Nevada and California. Some of the cyclists have been pedaling this ride for 15 years.
The ride began at 7:10 AM and the crash happened at 9:39 AM when truck driver Jordan A. Barson drove the flat-faced box truck into seven bicyclists, killing five of them. The bicyclists were Aksoy Ahmet, Mike Murray, Gerrard Nieva, Erin Ray and Tom Trauger.
Clark County Steve Wolfson said after the crash that Barson had nine times the amount of methamphetamine in his system for impairment. Barson avoided a trial by pleading guilty in June 2021 to two counts of driving under the influence resulting in death. He told Nevada Highway Patrol that he did not recall smashing his Isuzu truck into the bicyclists and that he must have fallen asleep.
Barson is serving a prison sentence of 16 to 40 years under his guilty plea deal.
A memorial ghost bike with five seats was installed on the 215 trail on the north side of the Charleston Boulevard crossing in Summerlin.
The report is written from a motorist’s point of view, bicyclists commented on the story.
