I got a few emails on this accident that happened today here in Flag over by the recycling center. I caught more detail from various people around town. The kid was 23 year old vis-com student at NAU, named Joshua Pete.
From: Mike
Not sure if you have seen it yet, but at 11:30 this morning a cyclist was killed on Butler new the Recycling Center. Read it over on azdailysun.comPlease keep us posted on any details that might make it to DC before getting posted to the Daily Sun.
Thanks
From: Will
I work with his father. Eye witness accounts I got through the grape vine, I didn’t need to hear, or repeat.
The local reports:
FLAGSTAFF (NAZ Today) – A Flagstaff service vehicle traveling westbound on Butler Ave. near Babbit Dr. collided with a bicyclist traveling in the same direction around 11:15 this morning.
Source: NAZtoday
Investigation so far indicates that after the garbage truck and the bicyclist collided, Pete became attached to the truck and was dragged some distance before the truck came to a stop. Pete was transported to Flagstaff Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 11:39 a.m.
source: Azdailysun.com
November 17th, 2009 at 6:23 am
My deepest condolences to his friends and family.
November 17th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Its a battle out there . Thats why I like the single track . I nearly get hit a few times a year just pedaling to and from . My thoughts and prayers to everyone in Flag , the family and friends ,God bless you .
November 17th, 2009 at 8:02 am
this post means i am going to wait to post until maybe some other time. goofy shit becomes irrelevant for now. bullshit fucking senseless crap.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:43 am
My sincere condolences to all involved. I certainly hope it is investigated properly, and charges pressed if they are warranted. I am sick and tired of cyclist getting killed, and motorists (or truck drivers) skating away.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Damn, sometimes I hate reading this blog.
Always sad to hear stuff like this. Best wishes to his family.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I’ve often had the shuddering thought of what if I was hit by a garbage truck. To this young man, it happened. Every time another cyclist or group of them is hit or killed I have less and less hope for this fucked up country I’m living in. People refuse to talk about, address, or do any real action about car culture, and dependence on big machines for everything… except for the few of us wing nuts on the ‘fringe’ because we ride bicycles. People drive city trucks like they are the family race car – and it’s so sickening to me. How about we slow down and stop endangering the lives of everyone around us…. wait, that’s totally unreasonable to ask for. It’s always an ‘accident’ – rarely ‘negligent’ – and that just galls me to no end.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Both the cyclist and the truck were driving in the same direction. There is a bike lane. The reports said they “collided”… which is poor wording but what can we expect. Fault can’t be established so quickly. But, in nascar, rub’n aint colliding far as I know. And what better law is there than NASCAR? Thus, either Joshua swerved out of his lane, or the trash truck swerved out of his.
November 17th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Yeah, fucking car racing culture is worse than gun video games. I saw a guy pull out of the welfare office parking lot in what? A little fucking race car – low to the ground, spoiler, custom everything, loud obnoxious exhaust and BOOM BOOM stereo. THIS IS WHAT “POOR” PEOPLE ARE DRIVING!!!! All I can say is, I see people driving WAY TO FAST on public roadways, and the police doing very very little about it. They pull people over when the feel like it, basically. I’m literally shoved off of the road every time I try to cross College Way (I’m in Mt. Vernon – a veritible shithole, culture wise) and daily there’s some prick saying “Get off the road.” and cowardly driving on… I can’t do ANYTHING about it, but I just want to beat the living shit out of some asshole that actually thinks I DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE ON THE ROAD. Just give me five minutes with one of these people.
WHEN
ARE
CYCLISTS
GOING
TO HAVE
RIGHTS?
God almighty I am pissed off. Truly, I want to shoot people like that. It is WAR – they are KILLING US with these deadly vehicles – it’s like I’m just waiting for my turn to get dragged along by some driver who doesn’t notice he just struck me. FUCK ME, man – what is there to do? I want to get a .50 Cal. BMG and even the score a little.
November 17th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
I’m huggin the side like there is no tomorrow , because there might not be a tomorrow . Remember last week we all ranted about the riding pic with the boys riding in a bad formation . A huge bike lane to the right and a double yellow . This is that ” it will never happen to me thing ,there is no traffic, were just messing around “. We have to error to the safe side cause these fuckers are gonna kill all of us if we dont hug the ditch .This subject is so fresh to us . We all touched on the truck subject . And then this ! I hope he was hugging the ditch because I know he knew better . The mere fact that he was drug for some time tells me that they didn’t even know they had hit him . For sure this young man was riding on the side ,no doubt. A waist of the life of a young cyclist who was earth savy enough to commute on the bike , tells me he loved the earth and was indeed a great human being . A great loss to mankind .We cant just open fire . We have to hug the ditch . Were cyclists – God bless …..
November 17th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Good story and comments on the kind of person this kid was. On his way to class, his teacher posted a comment she found it odd he wasn’t there. Condolences to his family and the many people whose lives he seemed to have touched.
http://azdailysun.com/articles/2009/11/17/news/breaking/doc4b03283f33d38614458829.txt
http://azdailysun.com/articles/2009/11/17/news/20091117_front_207612.txt
November 17th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Oh hell… It sure looks like the kids was riding in the bike lane and the truck turned into him.
He was an Afghanistan veteran. He served his country. Will his county serve him?
November 17th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
YOU CANNOT HUG THE DITCH AND GET FROM POINT A TO B IN A CITY. YOU CANNOT HUG THE DITCH AND TAKE A LEFT TURN IN A 6 LANE BOULEVARD.
I’m checking my 6:00 every 4 or 5 seconds when I am in that lane getting ready to turn. Your solution: Hug the ditch? BULLSHIT, buddy.
My solution: Combat minded – know when you are being passed, and check the right front wheel of the vehicle every time. Use racing tactics. NEVER just trudge along on a bike. That is how we die. Dance with cars. DANCE with them. There are moments when this is anxiety, and then moments when this is a pure zen state. I don’t hug the trash laden ditch, and never will. I will CHOOSE THE SAFEST LINE – that is the mantra of the cyclist that survives. NOT adhere to the law. NOT wait for the light to turn green to to go through. THE *SAFEST LINE* is it.
Once, on a tour in Vermont, I looked back and saw an RV. I just saw an RV coming up behind me, on my fully loaded touring bike. Something, I don’t know what, indicated danger. I pulled OFF OF THE ROAD and stopped, and right where I would have been, the RV veered into the dirt about 6 feet inboard. If I kept riding along in a ride-trance, I would have DIED. I would have been BIKER DOWN before this blog even existed. So, lesson is, keep intuition sharp and always, always, choose the safest line.
If it was me, I would have been riding around the left side of that trash truck, not going along in the bike lane. I’ve lived through 1000 right turning vehicles by going AROUND them, in the middle of the road; rapidly, tactically. Safest line. I get yelled at for riding in the middle of the road, but I am *alive* because of it. I want to teach people this stuff – as it’s not taught in 2nd grade how to patch a tire and it’s not taught in college how to ride a bike and live through it. TEACH this stuff. Let bike messengers and urban cyclists have tenure.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
3rd place. Temper your effort or you might not make the podium.
Respect your fellow cyclists.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:00 am
The problem with that 3rd Place writes, as I see it, is this: We don’t know yet whether the cyclist tried to pass the slower moving truck on the right, or if the faster moving truck tried to pass the cyclist on his left.
I suspect it was the latter over the former. I may be wrong on the point. But know this – You can be riding in a bike lane and have a car make a right turn into you. It has happened to me. Twice.
MTB: A guy in a pickup trunk passed me and cut right, right in front of me. I hit the back of his truck hard enough that my momentum carried me upward. I ended up holding on to the side of his truck, my left arm inside the bed, my armpit on the gunnel as he finished the turn onto a side street and eventually stopped. My bike was dragging behind me by the toe straps. That was back in 1993-94. Scared me pretty good.
Roadbike: Riding with Lovedog my first time out after the Accident to End All Accidents. Woman turned right, right in front of me. I clipped out my right foot without really thinking about it, and surfed it with the car around the corner, onto the side street, where she stopped. I sent my front wheel into her car hard, hit the bars too. This was in 2007. You can read it here.
I dented both of these cars and walked away. I was very, very lucky.
Keep the rubber side down out there.
November 18th, 2009 at 7:57 am
AZ Daily Sun report says Joshua was in his bike lane; the truck turned across it:
“Joshua Amos Pete and the truck driver were both traveling westbound on Butler Avenue at the time of the collision, with Pete in the marked bike lane, police said. The investigation so far indicates that the truck and the bicyclist collided at about 11:15 a.m. as the truck was making a right turn into the driveway. Pete became entangled in the truck’s wheel housing and was dragged some distance before the vehicle came to a stop in the driveway of the recycling center. Reports indicate he was severely injured and was pronounced dead at Flagstaff Medical Center at 11:39 a.m.”
November 18th, 2009 at 9:00 am
3rd place , with respect to your, “bullshit buddy,” what does that accomplish . The tone of this thread is one of sorrow and distane . I suggest you seek therapy ,you are very off base with your reply .Take a deeep breath and maybe think things over a bit . With an attitude like that it only hurts more . Maybe your the reason motorists hate cylists ! Combat, Mantra , Zen , give me a break …..RIP Joshua
November 18th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I wrote that when I was drunk and angry. I also had just gotten yelled at, again, by a driver saying “GET OFF THE ROAD!” when I was just riding along.
I was thinking about this poor kid Joshua at that moment, too. Can it be more stressful for me? I don’t know any cycllsts in my current city. I have zero support network. I’m alone in a sea of fucking cars here.
So give me a break – I’m negative and pissed off for good reason.
The problem is multi-faced, but the reason why I said ‘bullshit’ is because too many people already think that the way to ride a bicycle in traffic is to always be on the right side. Concurrent with this, is the shock and offense that drivers seem to exhibit when a cyclist is anywhere but on the right side. The right side is cool for the long stretch of road. The right side is often cool for traffic, too… but so often I am instinctively going to the left of the cars either moving slow or stopped, and sure enough, many times, a vehicle has taken a right very quickly with or without a signal, right where I would have been were I to be on the right side. Here are my questions; WHICH wheel well, front or rear, and DID HE PUT A TURN SIGNAL ON?
It appears as though we have cops thinking that cyclists have more rights when they are in a ‘designated bike lane’ when we all know that these lanes exist only on a fraction of the roadways we need to use. Some drivers watch out for bicycles, others just watch out only for the vehicles bigger than theirs. Until some negligent homicide convictions come from these ‘accidents’ – we are not going to see a reduction in their frequency. If a person can sue Sears for a smoke detector malfunction due to bad wiring in their house (Laaperi v. Sears R&Co: 787F.2d 726) and win damages, then how is it that drivers of vehicles don’t have the ‘duty of care’ ? I guess I’ve said enough. I’ve pissed some people off. Just try not to focus on the cursing and the anger and look at what I’m saying. There’s more content there than just the swear words, and if I was face to face with you, I would have said the same things. I’m not the reasons motorists hate cyclists, that is just an inflammatory statement. Motorists hate cyclists because they are the 99% majority, they think pavement is meant for motors only, and we’re slow, in the way, DWI convicts and/or too poor to afford a car. They don’t know a $3000 racing bike from a Mongoose. That is what they think, my friend. Let’s not argue further, please.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
I knew it was the booze.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
…the song remains the same…
…i truly hate reading about these kinds of situations, but i as much hate the irresponsible initial reporting by the media…
…while there are times when cyclists definitely create their own problems, the average joe (including most reporters it would seem) just doesn’t get how ‘most’ drivers have no real comprehension of how to react around cyclists…
…for what it’s worth, my condolences to folks whose life will never be the same because a driver couldn’t make a decent judgment call…while it wasn’t intentional, it was a case of bad judgment & that’s fucked up…
November 18th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Easy now 3rd .
November 18th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Lets not just blame the driver. No real report yet. It was truly a tragedy and given the scene I would guess the driver never knew he had hit anything. Any number of thing could have lead to this so lets wait for the facts.
Thoughts and condolences to the family and friends as well as the driver who must feel terrible!
November 18th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
dear thedog,
regarding this little tidbit of bad typing:
– Thoughts and condolences to the family and friends as well as the driver who must feel terrible! –
i’m sure your sensitive comment will unite the driver and family over a spot of tea or some such civil ceremony. we can all hug and go home to our sweatpants. you’re super thoughtful. you’re top-notch. you’re a little out of bounds with that.
Sincerely,
every one but you.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
3rd places rant and the assumption he/she lives in Mt Vernon WA (and not in George Washington’s mansion) reminded me of the time I was riding up Hwy 20 (near Concrete WA) and was hit in the back by a medium sized fountain soda thrown by a red neck in a truck traveling about 60 mph. I was riding to Montana and it took every ounce of strength I had not to be scared when hearing the next approaching car.
But I am still alive, the tragedy that happened to that poor kid was the first thing I thought about as I got on my bike today. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how careful you are, RIP.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
I’m still sick in the stomach about this and will be for a long while. What can I, say, do I say, to Joshua’s dad when he comes back to work?
The desciptions and details of the accident (beyond the newspapers) are weighing very heavy on my mind. I have a family to care for and it’s hard to ignore the images and scenarios spinning in my head and commit to spinning the pedals to get to work tomorrow. I don’t want to live in fear, but I do live in reality. I guess I’m the only one who can balance my need for the bike and the impact the slight chance I meet with tragedy will have on my family.
The whole thing sucks.
Matt Kelly hurt me, and still hurts, and I did’t know him.
The hurt from Joshua is greater.
Just sucks
November 18th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
3d place– drivers do have a duty of care and assuming this driver was negligent in some fashion (seems pretty likely) and Joshua’s family gets a good lawyer, the city will likely pay. That’s different from criminal charges, which seem never to be filed in bicyclist’s deaths.
We as a society have decided that the benefits of driving motor vehicles more or less outweigh the costs in lives, and we have decided not to hold people criminally accountable when they kill other road users through their idiotic/negligent actions.
It’s how we roll.
And it costs people like Joshua their lives every single day.
November 18th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
3rd is correct in that the Skagit Valley is purty and all, but the folks are… less than okay some times.
I haven’t ridden it, but the MS150 they run up there every fall gets good reviews.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I was sitting right next to the aftermath of this as I was westbound on Butler, and it was not pretty. Actually, it’s been kind of haunting me, there was visible evidence on the pavement of the kid being dragged. I slid under a four-by one time, luckily she stopped to glare at me, I can only imagine the fear that poor kid felt for that last second. My condolences go to his family, and for that matter, to the driver. He is messed for life. This is a no win, we all lost.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
unfortunate all around. how can you not want to ride a bike anywhere in Flag? and at the same time it’s tough driving anything larger than a VW around there. neglect is not intent nor is it an excuse. it’s just unfortunate for all.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
…“We as a society have decided that the benefits of driving motor vehicles more or less outweigh the costs in lives.”…thank you, ‘e’…that’s it in a nutshell..
…& it’s why we as cyclist’s will basically always be the losers in these situations despite not adopting that kind of losers mindset…it’s simply a matter of basic physics, as in 200lbs of soft machine vs 3000 or more lbs of hard edged steel & plastic…
…& “thedog”…do you ever actually drive a vehicle ???…is it not obvious when you pass a cyclist while driving in traffic, knowing that your impending right turn will have you potentially crossing the path of that cyclist, that you need to give that situation your wholehearted attention ???…
…anything less is a major lapse in judgment & attention…
November 19th, 2009 at 9:25 am
If I were the lawyer representing the family of Mr. Pete, I would sue the City of Flagstaff, because as an employee the driver’s liability passes to the employer. ‘duty of care’ in driving a big garbage truck when there are cyclists, pedestrians, and others around means to put a turn signal when turning, come to a stop, check mirrors, then make the turn; giving anyone around the chance to recognize what is going on and get out of the way. Anything less than this is NEGLIGENCE. Reckless endangerment. If he had done this, there would be one more kid riding his bike to school today.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
After an extremely sad event like this, I’m having a hard time trying to figure out what to do that will be positive in our cycling community. But for now, in this rant, I’ll try not to ramble on too much.
I’m frustrated.
I commute by bike every day. For the past 13 years or so in Flagstaff.
Things are getting worse every year. I just don’t know what to do to change it.
I remember I got mad about the “under 18″ helmet ordinance, and how it passed with a few “concerned parties” giving themselves a pat on the back.
Some people told me that I should be happy about the ordinance as it promotes safety. I suppose I should. I wear a helmet sometimes. But I say they’re missing the point. It’s sad sad times like these (Joshua’s death) when my ineffectiveness to drive home my point to others, what I believe the real issue with cycling safety to be. That it rests not in helmets, but rather in the general attitude of the commuting public.
Here are some examples of what builds my frustration:
I saw 3 cop cars around a city bus over on Mike’s Pike on Oct 29th. I asked some of the local news “twitter” entities what was up since one stated “PD says reports of city bus/pedestrian accident are untrue.”
ref:
http://twitter.com/flagstaffnews/status/5293656746
I found out later that the city bus had indeed collided with a pedestrian and ejected them ~10ft. Luckily they had no major injuries and that the “bike rack” had softened the majority of the blow. A friend stated the injured had reported the bus had been driving over 20mph around a corner and didn’t look.
Why was this not in the news? Seems pretty important to me. I do note that in the 2 latest incidents, and note that one was killed and one was critically injured. I wonder how many other incidents have never been reported. If all incidents involving city vehicles were reported, I’m sure we’d be well on the way to correcting a larger issue, which is currently tucked neatly under the rug.
The other day I was almost run down by a FlagPD car doing a “california roll” stop near dusk on the corner of Butler and O’leary as I was westbound on Butler with the right of way, and with lights on, as the cop turned right in my immediate path. I slammed on my brakes to avoid being hit, and was almost forced out of the bike lane and into traffic. They sped off so quickly I was unable to get a car #.
A couple days later on the way to work ~8am, I was almost hit by another FlagPD car on the corner of Beaver & Benton. Again in the bike lane, with right of way, the cop proceeds to california-roll through the stop sign, whereas I skid to a stop as to not get hit, the cop sees me as he’s 3/4 of the way through the intersection, then comes to a screeching halt. Sorry buddy, I already had the skills to cover for your lack of coffee & donuts this morning. Again, I’m a looser and don’t get the car # since I’m already late to work.
I “tweet” these 2 incidents to our mayor, who forwards it to the police chief, where I was only able to report these incidents via voicemail. Hell if I know if anything is really going to be done about the issue.
Last week: I ride my bike to band practice ~7pm going west on Aspen RIGHT IN FRONT OF CITY HALL AND LIBRARY… a car revs it’s engine (sounds like a monster truck) behind me, since there’s an oncoming car and cars parked on both sides of the street, I take the full lane as to make sure if they’re gonna hit me, they’re gonna have to go over me. The fucker is pretty much on my tail at this point, I can feel the heat coming from the car…. let me remind you, that I’m in the right of way (since the lane is not wide enough for a safe passing,) with lights on after dusk going roughly 17-20mph in a 25… as the oncoming car passes, I get to the side, and I see… A COP blast by pedal to the floor, practically cutting me off as I’m already giving right of way since the oncoming car has cleared. They speed around the next curve go another block, and THEN turn on their lights and sirens, just before running a stop sign. It was dark, too quick, and again, I could not get a car ID.
Later that night, walking my gal home, we cross Humphreys at Elm (Josephine’s) on foot, and only notice a car speeding up the road when about half way thru the intersection. The car makes it’s way from Aspen to Elm in less than 15seconds… as we scurry off the road the car whizzes by… it’s a cop. They flip on their sirens as to say “get the fuck off the road” as they pass, then promptly turn the siren off. Looked to be going at least 50mph when it passed. I tried to get a plate number, but it was already over the hill before my eyes could focus.
All of these incidents:
- within the past 2 months
- could have ended up just like Joshua Pete
- involved city vehicles & employees
(hell if I even started to talk about non-city vehicles and pedestrians around Flagstaff or NAU’s campus, I’d have to start my own blog…)
What I’m getting at might be a bit un-obvious to some, but it’s clear as glass to me. Our city itself doesn’t eat it’s own dog food concerning safety and right of way for pedestrians, cyclists, or other cars. …and if they don’t… then why should anyone else? To top it off, most articles I see about cyclist or pedestrian incidents in Flagstaff usually have wrong and/or conflicting information on what rights cyclists and pedestrians have (coming from the PD, mind you,) with the end game attitude being pretty much, get the fuck outta the car’s way.
As I’m getting older and obviously grumpier, I am taking more and more offense to this, but want to make a better place for cyclists & pedestrians. Shit, I should probably shit, get off the pot, and then get to some of these city meetings… *grumble* but I’ve seen how the city handles itself and don’t know how I could be effective…
November 28th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Almost 2 weeks has gone by and no follow up articles by the local paper. The strategy of the defendant, City of Flagstaff, is to just hope it goes away. Hope people will forget. Things will die down. Does anyone have a problem with the City’s police investigating an accident involving a City vehicle? Still no citations issued, not even to the cyclist! Flagstaff police supposedly were to refer the case to Coconino County but still nothing! The city could minimize their damages by announcing the results of their driver’s drug test which would have been available within 24 hours. Appears as though they are hiding something. Positioning of vehicles should have been established the day of. If you are passionate about this issue and you want justice for Pete, write to the editors of azdailysun.com, azfamily.com, azcentral.com and demand an investigation! Write to the city of Flagstaff 211 W Aspen Flagstaff AZ 86001 ATTN: City Council or call 928-779-7685! What was the experience and training of the driver? Past accident/violation record? Distractions during or before accident (cell phone, radio)? Work hours or overtime prior to the accident? Condition of the vehicle? (overweight? pre-trip inspection complete?)
November 28th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
This one kinda sorta counts as a win… I guess:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010365221_pastorprison27m.html
Mikey