5shot

https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40516070...ld_news-europe

ROME — A speeding car plowed head-on into a group of cyclists in southern Italy on Sunday morning, killing eight of them, officials said. The driver had been smoking marijuana, police said.

Bent, mangled bikes were strewn about the scene, and the sheet-draped corpses dotted the two-lane road near Lamezia Terme, in the Calabrian "toe" of boot-shaped Italy where the accident occurred.

In addition to the eight cyclists killed, four people were injured, said Gianluca Gioia, a spokesman for ANAS, the agency that runs Italy's state roads and highways. Police confirmed the toll.

The ANSA news agency said the driver, who was slightly injured, was placed under arrest. A police spokesman who declined to give his name said the man, a Moroccan national, had tested positive for marijuana.

A preliminary investigation showed the speeding car ran headfirst into the group of cyclists who were riding in the opposite direction on state road 18, according to the highway authority.

ANSA said the driver was trying to pass another car when he hit the group. Visibility and driving conditions were good at the time, reports said.

The road was closed by authorities.

It is common in Italy to see groups of amateur cyclists taking to small state roads on weekends. ANSA said the group hit Sunday was affiliated with a local Lamezia Terme gym.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

ArthurIhde

I'm really sorry to hear that...

Hot Potato

Very sad. Very, very sad.

dploy

Mutherfu--er who did that should have his hands run through a derailleur until deformed..

dploy

Unreal

gitarzan

That's numbing. Such a tragedy.

RunningPirate

There but for the grace of God, go us. A dark thought, it's true, but still.

Holy living F*&$, that picture is sobering. That somehow transcends all of the rhetoric about helmets and bike lanes and VC, etc... On the big scale, we can coat ourselves in day-glo colors, fit our bikes with flashing stadium lights and wear armor but all it takes is something like this for any one of us to check the f*&$ out.

Doesn't change a bloody thing, though - I'm still riding today.

hao

holy f***...
that photo is chilling...

alexvpaq

*chills down my spine* >_<

baj32161

Jesus, what a tragedy. My heart goes out to all of the survivors and the families of the victims. So much for marijuana not being harmful, eh?

Barrettscv 

https://www.leggonline.it/articolo.php?id=94558

Tragedy on the roads of Calabria. A group of cyclists was swept away by a car in a race, a Mercedes, on state highway 18 in cities Sant' Eufemia, near Lamezia Terme. Seven people died and three were injured, including the driver, a Moroccan. The man probably was along the Statale at high speed, when it was narrowing before a wall of cyclists and did not slow down

J R

Unbelievable. a very grim image dploy, my prayers go out the guys, the families and the community.

Exactly why you should have to pass an IQ test to get a damn license. The world is seriously full of ****ing idiots.

qcpmsame 

What a sad tragedy to loose so many brother and sister cyclist to one idiot driving while smoking weed. I don't know Italian laws but I hope they can put him away for a long time. I'd like a few minutes with him and my m-16 from boot camp in the USMC to do some practice on a live target. What a ****** bag waste.

Bill

blacksquid

The driver was being an idiot for driving while impaired. Whether it's weed or alcohol doesn't really matter.

My heart goes out to the survivors and family. Truly sad.

kaliayev

What a stupid waste of life!

Nachoman

Don't forget to be careful out there.

patentcad

+1

LowCel 

I really hate to hear that, thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved. On aside note, this is the first time I've heard of a pothead speeding.

patentcad

My understanding is that the driver was passing a slower moving vehicle and hit the cyclists head on. That is my greatest fear, when I'm on some two lane country road and some car attempts to pass another on his side, even though he sees me coming in the other lane. This happened just the other day, I rode my bike onto the dirt rather than squeeze by an oncoming car coming at me @ 60mph. These incidents have happened both here and in Europe, they are scary. When I see this developing, I always try to ride off the road and get the eff out of the way. If I was in a group with my vision blocked, I wouldn't be able to do that.

7bmwm3gtr

This is really devastating, my thoughts and prayers do go out to the families and survivors involved with this tragedy.

Also, I think another report said the Mercedes Benz was racing?

A lot of my classmates, 12th graders, already smoke weed because they say it's more safer than drinking alcohol. I know better not to do both, or rather not to try both.

vol

Some of the fittest, strongest people with active lives and bright future killed by a sick weed smoker. How will the driver be able to live with himself?

rousseau

Marijuana is exponentially safer than alcohol, this is an indisputable fact. But as with all intoxicants, you shouldn't be operating a motor vehicle on the roads when under the influence.

The culprit is the dick driving the car, not the weed. No need to take this off topic.

patentcad

As long as it's more safer.

Whoah.

DannoXYZ 

Saferer?

njkayaker

Basic logic fail here. There are a lot of things that you do (like eating) that are not such a good idea to do when driving. Maybe, you should avoid doing those things too!

Horrible tragedy.