Italian Bikers Down

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It’s interesting to note the difference between how the authorities react to this sort of thing in Italy, and how they react in the U.S.

Italian Bikers Down.

I don’t really have much to say about the whole ‘driving stoned’ thing, as I doubt it had too much to do with this dude hitting the cyclists, but it isn’t too hard to wait until you get home to get stoned, either.

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About D2

I am a writer and a photographer. I never killed a man in Reno, but I once rode a bike through a casino in Vegas. Bikes are cool, huevos rancheros are for breakfast, whiskey is for dinner. Denver, Colorado, USA

18 Replies to “Italian Bikers Down”

  1. “A police spokesman who declined to give his name said the man, a Moroccan national, had tested positive for marijuana.”

    If he had been a local would charges have been pressed ?

  2. terrible result, but as we all know the positive could have been from smoking days before and unlikely that an “actively” stoned driver would have been speeding.

  3. I’ve got my own opinion on “news” from the Huffington Post, but I will say this-I read way, way down through the comments and didn’t come across even one of those idiotic “them buy-sickle riders had it comin'” comments. And I don’t care much for pot; not that I care one way or another if you partake. But I have a hard time believing reefer was the cause of this horrible tragedy.

  4. …fuck me…triplef is concerned about “racial profiling” & hellybelly wants to postulate about whether he was ‘actively stoned’ & suggests a stoned person wouldn’t speed…

    …really, guys ???…

    …it doesn’t fucking matter if he was stoned at the time or if it was residual thc in his system…it doesn’t matter if he was from italy, morocco or fucking mars…he was so unaware as to drive head on into a whole group & hit & kill 8 cyclists in one fell swoop…

    …a group of 10 cyclists, no matter how they’re configured on the road has a larger profile (from any angle) than a car so if you’re ‘together enough’ to think you need to pass another vehicle, how the fuck do you not see a large (& perhaps colorful) group of cyclist’s when you look up the road before you attempt to pass…

    …on top of that, despite all of the horrendous cycle/motor vehicular tragedies we’ve heard of, does anyone remember 8 cyclists dying as the result of one single incompetent driver ???…

    …i sure as fuck can’t think of an instance as bad as this…

  5. I’ve driven stoned many a time. That’s not the problem as I see it. The problem is passing another car blindly at speed. Without knowing more about this particular crash, all I know is having been hit by 4 wheeled boxes 3 times and still alive to tell about it, I was never at fault and the LAW never gave a shit about me as a cyclist.

    It’s just a matter of time until you get clocked on the roads. One good thing about the cold winters here in the Northeast is for the next 5 months it’s off road time.

    The main threat on my rides off road here in Boston is being attacked by black Labs who attack and lick you death!

  6. 8 people died? Jesus…There’s gotta be somethin more goin on here than a dude smokin pot and driving. Just sayin… I don’t smoke it either so I’m not defending anyone. Been hit by a car too BTW… Fuck… Brutal… R.I.P you guys… So tragic… So sorry…

  7. What a horrible tragedy. I feel for the families. I agree that the pot and the immigrant from Africa thing is a red herring. My experience is that proving one’s “manhood” by driving recklessly is the number one killer on the roads. Drive to arrive alive, not to prove how aggressive you are people please!

  8. i find it astonishing that the mayor declared a day of mourning, around here you’re lucky if a biker down gets adequate news coverage. we had a 64 yr. lawyer killed this past thursday here in Burque. everyone please be careful out there, it’s the holidaze and the stakes are even higher now with people festivalizing and all. obviously who you are and how experienced is not relevant.all the best to everyone.

  9. Horrible news, and I still don’t know how the ‘alien status’ had anything to do with the tragedy. Strange that they felt it appropriate to add. Personally, I’m becoming more concerned about all these people texting and driving. I see it every day.

  10. …i didn’t own a car until i was 40 years old & i found years ago, that between thanksgiving & christmas was always an extremely dangerous time to be out on the roads on a bike…

    …nowadays, with the proliferation of cell phones & other ‘personal devices’ & particularly texting & driving, it’s even more dangerous out there whether one is walking, riding or even driving…

    …safety & paying attention are way down on the priority scale…

    …as for the other side of the coin, ever watch these assclowns walking & texting in a crosswalk ???…their attention & thus priority is so totally focused in some stupid device in their hands that you can actually see people slow their walk because they’re so engrossed in their texting…

    …clue fucking nada…

    …i see it as all reprehensibly irresponsible…

  11. You didn’t own a car till ya was 40 ?

    Can I now start calling you Mom ?

    That was all her. No car. Not cause she biked, but cause she was afraid of driving(and life it’s self actually).

    But in 1979, at 48 years old, during my 15th summer, she was forced for financial reasons to start driving. Slowly. On all back roads. But she drove. Till the day she died at 74.

    Thanks for a memory bgw.

  12. …i’ve lived as a serious cyclist since i was a young man…i grew up in a ‘sports car family’ (my father was a top rally ace & even my mom was a serious driver) but i knew i was destined to ride, so that’s what i did…

    …i finally bought a car @ 40 & while i do use them regularly & fully enjoy them these days, i’m also particular about using my bike(s) when appropriate for errands or just running around the towns of this small county…

    …i’m ‘known’ in my community as one of ‘the’ bike guys that got into it long before it was popular (road, mtb & cross) & while that’s something that might not mean squat to most folks, it’s a point of pride pour moi……

    …& i’ve ridden for enjoyment since i was a kid & hope to do so until the day it all flatlines………………

  13. I HATE riding in large groups. I hate it when people don’t single up when it gets tight, pissing off motorists and tempting them to get brave. I hate not seeing what’s coming because all you see is wheels. I hate rolling through lights and signs to keep the group together.

    With that said, I’m not saying any of this has anything to do with the story, it just makes me think of what I’ve experienced on large group rides, and why I prefer to ride with just a few friends, or alone.

  14. …nope…

    …joe breeze is joe breeze & bikesgonewild is bikesgonewild & that’s why joetheelectrician is joetheelectrician & not ‘joethedetective’

    …joe & i have been friends since the early ’70’s…joe was born & raised here in marin county while i’m a newcomer…i only got here from canada 44 years ago (in late december as a matter of fact)…

    …senor breeze & his wife connie live about 1/2 mile from me as the crow flies, which is information that joe would find appalling only because in joe’s personal quest to be absolutely precise, he could figure out within a few feet exactly what that distance is, in actual street mileage & as the crow flies…

    …& joe, who has been known to utilize foul language on occasion is nothing like the mealy mouthed recalcitrant that i am…

    …to be honest, i think so highly of joe breeze that i’d suggest your perhaps understandably misinformed extrapolation that we’re one & the same is more or less an insult to joe & an honor to me…

    …one fact i personally enjoy is that we both had beautiful ol’ red raleigh 3-speeds when we were kids, he in mill valley, me in eastern canada & while those bikes came equipped with upright ‘tourist’ bars, we both had the respective shops put drop bars on ’em before they left the front door…

    …the reason for that is ‘cuz we’re both ‘bike guys’

  15. Fair enough, bgw. I knew Joe’s family were into sporty cars and stuff. When you mentioned your Mom and Dad were carsy folks I just wondered. Not that it’s a letdown; hell no. I’m proud to know ya.

    Red Raleigh 3-speed, you say? Had a Sturmey-Archer equipped red Schwinn Racer as a wee lad. Probably weighed near what I did. Sigh…

  16. …that’s true & i had forgotten…i met bill breeze many years ago & joe has shown me photos of the early ‘bay area’ sports car racing days…

    …it’s funny (peculiar) but my folks never bought me a bike as a kid…hockey gear & ski equipment, ya but when i wanted a bike, i got one the ol’ fashioned way…hell no…i entered a contest & won the red raleigh…

    …i’m only surprised ‘cuz bikes teach kids a lot about responsibility…& when that bike was stolen 6 years later, i worked my ass off to buy a beater that i worked on, fixed up n’ painted but was never half as nice…

    …lesson learned & i still to this day remember the ‘helpless’ feeling when i searched for my bike to no avail…