US Sherrif crosses centre-line; kills two; cyclists "collided with deputy's car".

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8513728?nclick_check=1

_ wrote:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8513728

_ writtificated

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8513728

I like the desperate attempts at victim blaming:

"local cyclists noted that riders in large groups will sometimes ride two-
abreast. The practice is not illegal but can be extremely dangerous on
narrow, winding roads with a large amount of traffic.

It was unclear if the cyclists involved in this crash were doing so [etc]"

I'm not sure how riding two abreast would have any relevence to this crash,
seeing as it was caused by the driver falling asleep at the wheel and going
over to the wrong side of the road.

In article , _
says...
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8513728?nclick_check=1

The headline is "Two bicyclists struck and killed by sheriff's vehicle"
and the photo caption "a sheriff's vehicle struck three bicyclists" so
it's not really biased. Anyway it's possible that they were travelling
faster than the car, and too fast to be safe. I would question "the
deputy accidentally crossed the center line" - "accidentally" shouldn't
be there unless it was caused by e.g. mechanical failure of a properly
maintained vehicle.

On 11 Mar 2008 10:47:28 GMT, Mark T wrote:

_ writtificated

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8513728

I like the desperate attempts at victim blaming:

"local cyclists noted that riders in large groups will sometimes ride two-
abreast. The practice is not illegal but can be extremely dangerous on
narrow, winding roads with a large amount of traffic.

It was unclear if the cyclists involved in this crash were doing so [etc]"

I'm not sure how riding two abreast would have any relevence to this crash,
seeing as it was caused by the driver falling asleep at the wheel and going
over to the wrong side of the road.

Allegedly fell asleep.

As has been pointed out elsewhere, this is the least damaging (to the
officer) claim for him to make.

On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:51:08 -0000, Rob Morley wrote:

Anyway it's possible that they were travelling
faster than the car, and too fast to be safe.

It is most likely that they were travelling in the opposite direction to
the officer's car, as follows from the fact that he had to cross the
centre-line to hit them. In such a case, I suggest that the speed they
were travelling is irrelevant.

Rob Morley wrote:
In article , _
says...
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8513728?nclick_check=1

The headline is "Two bicyclists struck and killed by sheriff's vehicle"
and the photo caption "a sheriff's vehicle struck three bicyclists" so
it's not really biased. Anyway it's possible that they were travelling
faster than the car, and too fast to be safe. I would question "the
deputy accidentally crossed the center line" - "accidentally" shouldn't
be there unless it was caused by e.g. mechanical failure of a properly
maintained vehicle.


It is interesting reading the reader comments about this article. They
make it clear how biased the article is against the cyclists.