So Sad

[Lew L]

Riding tight.

I'm right with ya Bob.

It never made much sense to me to ride "tight" . I'm not a big group rider but I'd just as soon ride sweep and leave room between us. I have often had to tap the brake light to get a rider off my tailpipe. Not a brake check, just a tap to light all the lights I have on the trunk.
Lew L

 

[canamjhb]

I agree with BOTH Bob and Rob. The ultimate fault lies with the truck driver who mowed them down. But it up to us, the riders, to know that "stuff" happens. We need to always be prepared for "stuff". Maybe, just maybe, if they were not riding in a close-knit group more could have taken evasive action like one lady did resulting in fewer fatalities. I won't criticize others for the way they want to ride. It is their ride and their life. Lots of riders around here that will ride two abreast on a two lane road. They all seem to be either cops or Harley riders. Cops have special training for this. Most of the rest of us do not. As for me, I am an old rider. I plan to be an older rider. My reactions are still pretty good but not as good as they once were. I take a little extra space to avoid "stuff".

 

[CopperSpyder]

pps: I REALLY hate to say this, and thought about it for a couple of days, before opening my mouth...

This is what happens when a "Group Ride" doesn't leave enough space between the bikes... :banghead:

You don't have to be sniffing the tailpipe of the guy in front of you... nojoke

Sorry...

So Sad, When someone without direct knowledge of the facts or circumstances makes up their own facts to blame the victim.

 

[Bob Denman]

So Sad, When someone without direct knowledge of the facts or circumstances makes up their own facts to blame the victim.

I never said that I blamed the riders for the accident: that fault lies clearly with the driver of the truck.
HOWEVER: there is absolutely no way; that he could have done the damage that he did; if they were maintaining safe following distances.
When the crap hit the fan: they were slow to react; because they had no safe place to go. They sim,ply pinned each other in...

Nothing was made up: this is just a case of looking at what happened, and figuring out why it did.

(I've been doing accident investigations for years...)


I get that nobody wants the bikers to be at fault. It just doesn't always work out the way that we'd like.

 

[WisconsinDavid]

I will wait for the accident report to come out and detail what they did or didn't do. From initial reports, it sounded like they had just pulled onto the road and traveled a short distance before the truck came at them. If that is accurate, they probably were not real arranged yet and maybe even attention backward looking for all the group to have gotten on together. That is hearsay though that I've read in a couple of reports. I'll wait for the accident reconstruction people to do their work. You are right, we need to leave space and not be bowling pins... that much is good advice. The groups that I ride with either do that... or I won't ride with them. So sad for all the families impacted by this... and all of us impacted feeling the wind's connection to the fallen.

 

[CopperSpyder]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/pickup-driver-pleads-not-guilty-in-fatal-motorcycle-crash/ar-AADp5OE?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=oie9fvrt latest news https://www.yahoo.com/news/apos-just-explosion-apos-trucker-141306219.htmlhttp://

 

[Rob Rodriguez]

Sounds to me like this individual has had many traffic violations and DUI/drug charges in the past. He denies everything and fails to take accountability for his actions. Jail will be a good place for him.

 

[Spyder_Cowgirl]

I will wait for the accident report to come out and detail what they did or didn't do. From initial reports, it sounded like they had just pulled onto the road and traveled a short distance before the truck came at them. If that is accurate, they probably were not real arranged yet and maybe even attention backward looking for all the group to have gotten on together. That is hearsay though that I've read in a couple of reports. I'll wait for the accident reconstruction people to do their work. You are right, we need to leave space and not be bowling pins... that much is good advice. The groups that I ride with either do that... or I won't ride with them. So sad for all the families impacted by this... and all of us impacted feeling the wind's connection to the fallen.

While the official accident report is not yet available, there is at least one eye witness account from one of the surviving bikers (he was hit and thrown, but survived). According to this particular eye witness, the pickup was driving on the wrong side of the road on a blind hill. The truck took out the first four bikes as they had no time to evade (crested the hill and the truck was right in their lane). The pickup driver then proceeded to veer off the road (on the wrong side, accident scene photos bear this out) and the trailer is what hit the remaining riders.

This is all beyond sad -- it was so preventable, simply by keeping ONE driver off the road -- and there is plenty of justification to have done so with multiple DUI's and the overturn of a truck in Texas that got him fired from a previous job.

I continue to pray for the families and friends of all the riders involved ….. Ann

 

[vtrider]

This is the latest report from the the local news in my area on this story.
https://www.wcax.com/content/news/D...ck-that-killed-7-motorcyclists-511782771.html

 

[Deanna777]

Sounds to me like this individual has had many traffic violations and DUI/drug charges in the past. He denies everything and fails to take accountability for his actions. Jail will be a good place for him.

:agree: Deanna

 

[AY4B]

While the official accident report is not yet available, there is at least one eye witness account from one of the surviving bikers (he was hit and thrown, but survived). According to this particular eye witness, the pickup was driving on the wrong side of the road on a blind hill. The truck took out the first four bikes as they had no time to evade (crested the hill and the truck was right in their lane). The pickup driver then proceeded to veer off the road (on the wrong side, accident scene photos bear this out) and the trailer is what hit the remaining riders.

This is all beyond sad -- it was so preventable, simply by keeping ONE driver off the road -- and there is plenty of justification to have done so with multiple DUI's and the overturn of a truck in Texas that got him fired from a previous job.

I continue to pray for the families and friends of all the riders involved ….. Ann

http://www.tbdailynews.com/westfiel...AJofCBcX3sPlvmlIVZoUSyCeiJcBGjzWmzTq351IyX9Qs

 

[UtahPete]

While the official accident report is not yet available, there is at least one eye witness account from one of the surviving bikers (he was hit and thrown, but survived). According to this particular eye witness, the pickup was driving on the wrong side of the road on a blind hill. The truck took out the first four bikes as they had no time to evade (crested the hill and the truck was right in their lane). The pickup driver then proceeded to veer off the road (on the wrong side, accident scene photos bear this out) and the trailer is what hit the remaining riders.

This is all beyond sad -- it was so preventable, simply by keeping ONE driver off the road -- and there is plenty of justification to have done so with multiple DUI's and the overturn of a truck in Texas that got him fired from a previous job.

I continue to pray for the families and friends of all the riders involved ….. Ann

I'll never understand the laxity of our drunk driving laws. It seems the rights of the individual are more important than public safety when it comes to this sort of thing.

 

[Mikey]

Like I said, the whole story's not out there for us to pass full judgment! That was a lot of truck and a good size gooseneck trailer, and new to all of it!! Time will tell the truth, we all hope! And there are family's that want to make some kid of sense to all of this crap!

 

[canamjhb]

Why was this guy allowed on the road?

He worked for Westfield Transportation located in West Springfield MA. They employed him even though he has had DUIs, drug issues, & other driving problems. Why did they hire him? A search of Westfield Transportation shows:
Director Dartanyan Gasanoy
President Dartanyan Gasanoy
Secretaty Dartanyan Gasanoy
Treasurer Dartanyan Gasanoy

Draw your own conclusions. I have mine..... Jim

 

[SuperG]

https://www.westernmassnews.com/new...cle_1cf9fce4-96cc-11e9-9111-1bbd1d968302.html

 

[stmike 1800]

He's being held in West Stewartstown because prosecutors say his driving record, which includes past DUI arrests, makes him a danger to himself or the public.

Now he is a danger to the public ,so sad for sure.

 

[Wahrsuul]

We're told that driving is a privelage, not a right. Yet, when you try to take someone's license - for DUIs among other things - they hesitate too many times. I've seen it with one of my own.

 

[Bob Denman]

My own Brother has had 7 DWI/DUI convictions.... After 30 years of this Bullsh1t: New York FINALLY got around to taking his license away from him...

 

[h0gr1der]

I hate to paint with this broad brush, but in the offending drivers age group concerned, the state police need to subpoena his phone records. That's one thing I'm most afraid of now, texting morons. I call them Videots. Almost every time on the highway nowadays I see people using the side rumble strips and center marker reflectors to coarse correct while driving under the influence of technology. If found that he was texting while driving resulting in these deaths, there should be a more critical response to his sentencing.

 

[Bob Denman]

In a fatal accident such as this: they'll look at everything... nojoke