Advocacy & Safety - Cyclist killed in car crash

http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/13988

I rode through that exact spot about three hours earlier on a solo ride. There are a few pictures at the bottom of the article; scary stuff.

the damage to that car was pretty extensive. wonder what happened?

Those pics made me feel slightly ill to look at - I don't think I've ever seen such a comprehensively destroyed bike.

Matthew

Horrible. Looks like a lot of speed was involved to cause that amount of damage.

My thoughts are with the cyclist's family.

Damn it. Not another one. This just pisses me off to no end. :mad: Geeze.

Jeezzuz H Criminy! How fast do you have to be going to total your car by hitting a bike?!?!?

I hope that there IS an investigation. And IF the investigation indicates gross negligence, one would hope criminal charges will be filed.

A TT bike was involved. Could high cycling speeds and lack of maneuverability have contributed to the accident?

Amazing amount of damage to that car! Sad news . . .

Thats not far from where I live. I'll have to keep my ear to the ground and see if anyone from the local bike clubs have anything to say about it. It looks like the cyclist was run over and the car took on damage from the other obstacles like the ditch etc before coming to a stop.

maybe the car rolled? but damn...

A 67 year old cyclist was killed a few miles from my house recently.

http://www.ktsm.com/news/elderly-bicyclist-killed-hit-and-run

A well known cyclist in N.C. was killed yesterday.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5553372/

The bike went under the car, by the looks of the frame. Yeeesh

A well known cyclist in N.C. was killed yesterday.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5553372/

This event occurred about 1 mile from my house at an intersection that I went through on my way to church this morning. It has really shaken the cycling community around here. Our minister said a prayer for Bruce and his family.

That frame is absolutely wrecked. Good God.

Stuff like this is sometimes too much at the wrong time. I was almost killed today. I had hooked up with a group of 35-40 riders. We were doing about 30 MPH. They had a "team" truck riding in front of them with blinkers on and a guy taking pictures of them from the back of it. As I come to take my turn on the pull of a double rotating paceline, I hear this loud as heck redneck big tire truck and its horn coming on my left. He was trying to pass the entire group and had to know he had no room to manouver in front of us because of the traffic coming in the opposite direction. It was obvious he could have care less and threw the truck on to the riders, me being the one closest to it. As I saw the entire truck coming to me in slow motion (at least it seemed that way then), I leaned some to the right while trying to apply the brakes some. I also stuck out my hand towards the truck and this pushed me out to the left some more. Thankfully, the guys on the back and the right of me had slowed down some by then otherwise I would have taken down a couple of down of them on my way down. I did not fall, but I can tell you my HR must have peaked well beyond a number I have ever seen in my monitor. Many of the other riders came up and were pretty amazed I did not crashed and go under the rear wheel of the truck as it went to the right. I was surprised too. This foker did not even slow down and just cut around the truck in front of us seconds later to pass them. Some people just need to have their knee caps and ankles broken beyond repair, so every time they try to move their legs or feet it reminds them of what caused it in the first place.

The pictures of the broken pieces of the bike are somewhat depressing me, and kind of angering me at the same time.

This guy had to be going way fast to have done that much damage. Like someone else said, if negligence is found to be involved, I hope this person gets sent to jail for a long time for failing to pay attention to the road.

These are the kind of postings I don't tell my wife about. First person stories like Pharding's are even more sobering. Be careful everyone.

Thanks for another death thread. These are always fun.

Every planet except Mercury is in retrograde. What would happen if Mercury would be?

Every planet except Mercury is in retrograde. What would happen if Mercury would be?

Nothing, because retrograde motion is nothing but astrology mumbo jumbo :D

Here's the latest update:

On 7/11/09 at approximately 1444 hours a blue 2008 Mazda M3I driven by Royal Kessick III, 47, of Richmond, VA was traveling northbound on Three Notch Rd. north of Park Hall Rd. Hugo Gonzalez, 44, of St. Leonard, MD was riding a bicycle on the southbound shoulder of Three Notch Rd. heading towards Park Hall Rd. Kessick's vehicle crossed the southbound travel lane, onto the shoulder and into the path of Gonzalez's bicycle. Gonzalez was struck by the vehicle and thrown into the grass adjacent to the roadway. Gonzales succumbed to his injuries. Kessick's vehicle continued towards the wood line, struck a tree, overturned once and landing upright.
Kessick was flown by Eagle 1 to Medstar. Gonzalez was wearing a bicycle helmet. Initial investigation indicates alcohol is not believed to be a contributing factor. Members of the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Collision Reconstruction Team responded to the scene and assumed the investigation.

Here's the latest update:

On 7/11/09 at approximately 1444 hours a blue 2008 Mazda M3I driven by Royal Kessick III, 47, of Richmond, VA was traveling northbound on Three Notch Rd. north of Park Hall Rd. Hugo Gonzalez, 44, of St. Leonard, MD was riding a bicycle on the southbound shoulder of Three Notch Rd. heading towards Park Hall Rd. Kessick's vehicle crossed the southbound travel lane, onto the shoulder and into the path of Gonzalez's bicycle. Gonzalez was struck by the vehicle and thrown into the grass adjacent to the roadway. Gonzales succumbed to his injuries. Kessick's vehicle continued towards the wood line, struck a tree, overturned once and landing upright.
Kessick was flown by Eagle 1 to Medstar. Gonzalez was wearing a bicycle helmet. Initial investigation indicates alcohol is not believed to be a contributing factor. Members of the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Collision Reconstruction Team responded to the scene and assumed the investigation.

They never fail to mention that do they?:rolleyes:

Matthew

Scary *hit

I use to ride from wildewood area to PAX(down 235).When I rode my mountain bike down the side walk I almost got hit 4 different times. Now that I use the bike lane i've had no problems.I moved and was going to be riding from mechanicsville to PAX. But I don't know now i might just stick to the base loop or around my house.

Amazing amount of damage to that car! Sad news . . .


article says car hit a tree then rolled over once and landed upright.

A TT bike was involved. Could high cycling speeds and lack of maneuverability have contributed to the accident?


The car came across the centerline; across a lane of traffic, and into the shoulder, and continued off the road into the woods. Lots of luck avoiding that on any bike.

"Hugo Gonzalez, 44 of St. Leonard, was riding a bicycle on the southbound shoulder of Three Notch Road heading towards Park Hall Road. Kessick's vehicle crossed the southbound travel lane, onto the shoulder and into the path of Gonzalez's bicycle."

http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/13988

I rode through that exact spot about three hours earlier on a solo ride. There are a few pictures at the bottom of the article; scary stuff.


Take these to A&S. If these threads serve any useful purpose it's appropriate in A&S.

And I would argue that the stream of cyclist killed threads mostly serve to distort the risk of cycling.

On BF, you're going to see posted about any fatal accident involving a cyclist anywhere in the US, and largely in the world. These anecdotal reports make it appear that we're dropping like flies.

Statistical analysis of bike safety and advocacy for better bike safety has its place.

Anecdotal reports pretty much just get people worked up and afraid unecessarily.

And all that said, my thoughts and prayers are with his family, in this senseless tragedy.

Thats a long straight stretch too.

Local word has it that the driver had a heart attack, but that's not confirmed yet.

I used to live in Lexington Park when I was stationed at Pax River back in the early 90s. I can say this, MD drivers suck! My x-wife and daughter still live down there and they are constantly telling me how horrible it is to ride a bike there. This totally sucks. Those pictures of the bike components just made me sick to the stomach. So sad. I lived off of Rt. 235 and it is not a fun place to ride a bike. I rode on it maybe once or twice. People drive on that road like they are in the Indy 500. I am wondering if the driver of that car had a medical condition. The worst part is that the cyclist's name is familiar. I am contacting my x-wife to see if it is who I think it is. I sure hope not.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Mr. Gonzalez.

Take these to A&S. If these threads serve any useful purpose it's appropriate in A&S.

And I would argue that the stream of cyclist killed threads mostly serve to distort the risk of cycling.

On BF, you're going to see posted about any fatal accident involving a cyclist anywhere in the US, and largely in the world. These anecdotal reports make it appear that we're dropping like flies.

Statistical analysis of bike safety and advocacy for better bike safety has its place.

Anecdotal reports pretty much just get people worked up and afraid unecessarily.

And all that said, my thoughts and prayers are with his family, in this senseless tragedy.

correct.

Stuff like this is sometimes too much at the wrong time. I was almost killed today. I had hooked up with a group of 35-40 riders. We were doing about 30 MPH. They had a "team" truck riding in front of them with blinkers on and a guy taking pictures of them from the back of it. As I come to take my turn on the pull of a double rotating paceline, I hear this loud as heck redneck big tire truck and its horn coming on my left. He was trying to pass the entire group and had to know he had no room to manouver in front of us because of the traffic coming in the opposite direction. It was obvious he could have care less and threw the truck on to the riders, me being the one closest to it. As I saw the entire truck coming to me in slow motion (at least it seemed that way then), I leaned some to the right while trying to apply the brakes some. I also stuck out my hand towards the truck and this pushed me out to the left some more. Thankfully, the guys on the back and the right of me had slowed down some by then otherwise I would have taken down a couple of down of them on my way down. I did not fall, but I can tell you my HR must have peaked well beyond a number I have ever seen in my monitor. Many of the other riders came up and were pretty amazed I did not crashed and go under the rear wheel of the truck as it went to the right. I was surprised too. This foker did not even slow down and just cut around the truck in front of us seconds later to pass them. Some people just need to have their knee caps and ankles broken beyond repair, so every time they try to move their legs or feet it reminds them of what caused it in the first place.

Did anyone get the plate of this a-hole and report it? Jeez. I would be on a mission to track this guy down and beat the ever living out of him. Out of curiosity, what was the speed limit of the road you guys were traveling 30 MPH on?

Did anyone get the plate of this a-hole and report it? Jeez. I would be on a mission to track this guy down and beat the ever living out of him. Out of curiosity, what was the speed limit of the road you guys were traveling 30 MPH on?



The speed limit was 50 MPH. Although I do agree with you in my desire to break this a-hole in 2, I can tell you it never ends in anything good. I could have gotten the plates and report it to the police, which will do simply nothing at all about it leaving us frustrated just the same. If at best they were to write the guy a warning or some crap like that, it would be giving this dumbass another extra reason to try to do the same for fun next time he sees someone else on a bike out on the road. Who knows. It may just be you while visiting here on vacation. One thing I have learned is that unless you are killed, nothing will be done to a motorist. Even then, he may get a ticket at best.

The ironic part of all is that he had a bumper sticker that read: "what out for motorcycles".:mad:

I've had people on motorcycles buzz me and yell **** at me. People never cease to amaze me.

Take these to A&S. If these threads serve any useful purpose it's appropriate in A&S.


I agree. And it's doubtful if an accident like this even has any value over there. It was a car that went out of control and it killed an innocent, uninvolved bystander that happened to be in its path - it had nothing to do with cycling.

I can think of four similar fatalities that happened recently in my area - one victim was on a bike, one was walking his dog, another was sitting in a bus stop, and a fourth was in a car. All were minding their own business when a car lost control and took them out and they did nothing but happen to be in wrong place.

Sad for the innocent victims, but unless you're studying how drivers lose control and hit things there's nothing to be learned from them other than the fact there's a small risk of tragedy every time you get up in the morning. They certainly have nothing to do with cycling.

correct.

Concur, moved to A&S