2024 Fatalities

[Thoglette]

Cyclist killed, another seriously injured in crashes on Eyre Highway in outback Western Australia
ABC online

A cyclist has died and another been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after being struck by vehicles in separate crashes on Western Australia's remote Eyre Highway.

A WA Police spokesperson said the first crash occurred near Madura, about 190km west of the WA-SA border, between 5:30-6:00am on Thursday.

The 62-year-old rider died at the scene.

Police are trying to confirm details of the other vehicle involved, which was also travelling east.

The second cyclist was hit near Fraser Range, 100km east of Norseman, just after 8am.

The male cyclist, aged in his 50s, was taken to Norseman Hospital by St John Ambulance, and has since been flown to Royal Perth Hospital due to the severity of his injuries.

[find_bruce]

Any news on whether the cyclists were involved in the 2024 Indian Pacific Wheel Race

https://ipwr24.maprogress.com/ shows a bunch or riders stopped at Norseman & another group at Madura

[jasonc]

Any news on whether the cyclists were involved in the 2024 Indian Pacific Wheel Race

https://ipwr24.maprogress.com/ shows a bunch or riders stopped at Norseman & another group at Madura

A bloke posted saying he knows/knew the rider. He was not in the event but had done it previously

[Peter A]

I understand both cyclists were in the INDIPAC ride Perth-Sydney.
Police are said to think trucks were involved in both collisions some 100's of KM apart. At least one was a hit run !!
Terrible outcome for family and friends of both men. RIP to Chris BARKER aka Caveman and quick recovery for injured rider, as yet unidentified (expect next of kin being advised still).
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1827536454226495/

[CmdrBiggles]

Some disturbing information about this debacle is one of the truck drivers was overhead saying he wants to run down all of the cyclists.
That comment was relayed over to police so it is not known what eventuated at this relatively early post-incident time.

[g-boaf]

Some disturbing information about this debacle is one of the truck drivers was overhead saying he wants to run down all of the cyclists.
That comment was relayed over to police so it is not known what eventuated at this relatively early post-incident time.

If that's the case, then he should go to prison for life.

But we know that won't happen, not in this country.

The media, social-media and their friends on the right need to have a good look at how they also have some responsibility for this situation, they are all complicit in building the anger and rage against anyone on a bicycle.

[redsonic]

They've charged a truck driver over the fatality near Madura:

ABC News

[uart]

They've charged a truck driver over the fatality near Madura:

Glad that they've got at least one of the drivers. What about the other one though. The early report I read seemed to indicate that the Police weren't sure (at the time) of the identity of either driver.

From this article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-21/ ... /103617094

The second cyclist was hit near Fraser Range, 100km east of Norseman, just after 8am.
The male cyclist, aged in his 50s, was taken to Norseman Hospital by St John Ambulance, and has since been flown to Royal Perth Hospital due to the severity of his injuries.
He remained in a stable condition as of Thursday evening.
Police believe the vehicle may have been a truck travelling east along the highway.

Does this mean that they still haven't identified the other driver yet?

[CmdrBiggles]

They've charged a truck driver over the fatality near Madura:

ABC News

An example needs to be set.
The charge is manslaughter.
An eye for a eye. Hang him. Oh, I wish, I do, I wish!

But alas, Australia won't set an example. Never has, probably never will.

The softly-softly tapping of the gavel in the hand of the bloke in the bench will instead stare him down and give him a flogging with a warm lettuce leaf, and this murderous swine will be free to do it all again.

[Peter A]

"The South Australian man accused of the vehicular manslaughter of a cyclist who died during a gruelling endurance race has made a brief appearance in court.

"Anil Sharma, 36, spent the night in the lock-up at Kalgoorlie police station, after being arrested over the tragedy which unfolded on the Eyre Highway earlier this week."................The WEST AUSTRALIAN 23/04/2024.

I wonder how much experience SHARMA has in long distance heavy vehicles?

[g-boaf]

They've charged a truck driver over the fatality near Madura:

ABC News

Only manslaughter - it should be murder, life time in prison.

[Duck!]

They've charged a truck driver over the fatality near Madura:

ABC News

Only manslaughter - it should be murder, life time in prison.

There must be proof of deliberate intent to kill in order to stick a murder charge. It is not known at this stage if there was intent to kill, or the alleged comments about wanting to run all the cyclists down were made by the driver who has been charged. Manslaughter is the correct charge in the event of a negligent or reckless act unintentionally causing death.

If there is evidence to prove that the driver had intent to kill the cyclist, then absolutely the charge should be upgraded to murder, and the judicial system should perform its duty and penalise appropriately..... But probably won't.

[g-boaf]

They've charged a truck driver over the fatality near Madura:

ABC News

Only manslaughter - it should be murder, life time in prison.

There must be proof of deliberate intent to kill in order...

I don't care about that, you run into a rider and kill them, you have to face really serious consequences.

Without that, your life is about as valuable as a cockroach, albeit one on wheels.

[Duck!]

What you do or don't care about is irrelevant from a legal perspective, a charge for murder must have a proveable intent to cause death. However I do agree with you that "traffic incidents" are brushed off far too frequently by the judiciary as minor offences even when someone has died, regardless of whether they're a cyclist or a vehicle occupant.

[Anrai]

It's entirely possible that if these accidents are due to factors such as drug use, sleep deprivation, and distracted driving contributing to inattentive drivers not even seeing the cyclist, higher sentencing will have minimal impact on preventing incidents and may lead to more drivers choosing to evade arrest.
I suspect on some level our society is walking some kind of tightrope between that and and in I assume many cases long haul trucking being a cocktail of necessary(?) + last-resort(?) work in an era where our cultural ideology strives to employ the lowest number of people for the highest workload at the lowest prices.
As a culture we're also notoriously dismissive of any laws that are perceived as an inconvenience.

Aside from all that, I've always been perplexed that the straightest and flattest roads have the highest crash statistics.

[g-boaf]

It's entirely possible that if these accidents are due to factors such as drug use, sleep deprivation, and distracted driving contributing to inattentive drivers not even seeing the cyclist, higher sentencing will have minimal impact on preventing incidents and may lead to more drivers choosing to evade arrest.
I suspect on some level our society is walking some kind of tightrope between that and and in I assume many cases long haul trucking being a cocktail of necessary(?) + last-resort(?) work in an era where our cultural ideology strives to employ the lowest number of people for the highest workload at the lowest prices.
As a culture we're also notoriously dismissive of any laws that are perceived as an inconvenience.

Aside from all that, I've always been perplexed that the straightest and flattest roads have the highest crash statistics.

If a cyclist was taking a cocktail of these drugs and killed a pedestrian, the country would be out for the death of every rider in the land.

So truck drivers shouldn’t get any slack.

Their companies should not drive them into the ground with crap working conditions.

[find_bruce]

What you do or don't care about is irrelevant from a legal perspective, a charge for murder must have a proveable intent to cause death. However I do agree with you that "traffic incidents" are brushed off far too frequently by the judiciary as minor offences even when someone has died, regardless of whether they're a cyclist or a vehicle occupant.

Almost spot on duck - intent is critical, but it's sufficient for murder if the act involves

• an intent to kill
• an intent to inflict grievous bodily harm
• reckless indifference to human life, or
• the commission of a serious crime - the precise details vary from state to state.

Police and prosecutors have an obligation to ensure that there is a proper basis for proving the elements of the offence "beyond reasonable doubt". Judges in NSW have been very critical of recent cases where charges have been brought without a proper basis.

Since Eugene McGee struck and killed cyclist Ian Humphrey and callously left him for dead on the road, state parliaments have significantly increased the penalties for failing to stop and render assistance following a collision.

Our criminal justice system is founded on the premise that it's better that 9 guilty people go free than 1 innocent be convicted. People seem to rail against this standard until the time when they or someone they love is the person charged.

[g-boaf]

Another hit and run fatality, Grenfell:

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-ac ... 976098ecd3

Emergency services responded to Henry Lawson Way, Grenfell shortly after 11am on Monday following reports a cyclist had been found unconscious.

The 67-year-old man was treated by paramedics but died at the scene. The man is yet to be formally identified.

RIP.

I suppose the driver will get away with it.

[elantra]

Another hit and run fatality, Grenfell:

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-ac ... 976098ecd3

Emergency services responded to Henry Lawson Way, Grenfell shortly after 11am on Monday following reports a cyclist had been found unconscious.

The 67-year-old man was treated by paramedics but died at the scene. The man is yet to be formally identified.

RIP.

I suppose the driver will get away with it.

Terrible ! Another hit and run death.
Presumably not long prior to 11 am this morning.
Daylight hours.
Incomprehensible how this can happen in a civilised society.

The News article is rather confused too.
Headline states “ Man killed in suspected hit-and-run in Sydney”
Then goes on to say the tragedy occured in Grenfell, which is many hundreds of kilometres away from Sydney.
Personally i think that Australian society is way too tolerant of poor driver behaviour and our politicians don’t see the Road Toll as being worth getting animated about it.
Sadly. Because it affects us all.
Some more than others unfortunately

[g-boaf]

Oh we aren’t tolerant of bad driver behaviour in general, only tolerant when it is against bicycle riders.

[brumby33]

It's not really hard to understand when there's so many drivers in Motor vehicles under the influence of some drug, legal or illegal and or alcohol, then there's the mobile phone numpties.

So those who are on a substance of course will flee instead of the risk of being detected and hoping it'll be out of their system before the cops catch up to them and gives them time to make up a solid story.....freaking cowards.....I reckon anyone who doesn't stop to at least call emergency and leave someone there to die deserves a minimum of 10 years whether it was intentional or not...that's just for the hit and run minimum penalty then there's the actual charge of hitting them in the first place, it it was proven to be deliberate, there's at least another 5-10 years depending of the severity of clash then as it was also said here, if it could be proven that the perpetrator had bragged or verbalised intent, then it should be Murder. No difference in attempting to kill someone with a vehicle or a gun only that a vehicle is a legal commodity.

Back about 10 years ago, around 2014, there was a Police blitz in Newcastle around the top of scenic road at Highfields and 1 out of 3 drivers pulled up had illicit substances in their body.....so many charged in one day was a real eye opener about those who we are sharing the road with.

brumby33

[baabaa]

Then goes on to say the tragedy occured in Grenfell, which is many hundreds of kilometres away from Sydney.

Granville, Grenfell same to lazy news corpse hack

I kinda know this road well and have biked it a lot of the past few decades. The roads are pretty good and the sight lines for drivers could indicate this was a typical distracted driver
Lots of older people are now hitting the roads with e bikes and surprising to see that these are not what you would once call people who would want to bike. The comments I hear is that some of the old men and women have redound a love of something they did as a kid and the e bike has opened up the world to them. Seems to be a thing is that people are now putting the bikes in the car and doing day trips around lots of these "smaller" towns
This is worth a watch about how good it is to bike in and around Grenfell



Also - this a-hole has a lot to answer for
The area is full of old railway lines begging to be turned into rail trails and this bloke put his hand up for the last state election dead against them. He wanted the old trainline from Harden to Bathurst to be reopened ( has not seen a train in 35 years) and this route would be a great rail tail for the communities along the line.
Sure I agree that more goods should go by train but which govt would put up the $$

https://www.facebook.com/p/Brian-Fisher ... 375390565/


Brian Fisher, Independent Candidate for Cootamundra
21 March 2023 ·
My plan and proposal that I will introduce to parliament via a Private Members bill for the return and extension of rail to Boorowa, Crookwell and Yass linked and extended to Canberra via Murrumbateman with self propelled passenger rail sets performing continuous loop services.
Goulburn to Crookwell reopened and upgraded to 60kg continuous welded rail on concrete sleepers with triangle at Goulburn.
Galong to Boorowa reopened and upgraded to 60kg continuous welded rail on concrete sleepers with triangle at Galong.
Galong to Boorowa and Goulburn to Crookwell linked via a new road/rail viaduct via Rugby.
Yass Junction to Yass Township reopened upgraded and extended to Kingston via Murrumbateman linking up with the Goulburn to Canberra line. Linked to Canberra's Light rail and Canberra airport.

He had 674 people voting for him

[elantra]

…..
Back about 10 years ago, around 2014, there was a Police blitz in Newcastle around the top of scenic road at Highfields and 1 out of 3 drivers pulled up had illicit substances in their body.....so many charged in one day was a real eye opener about those who we are sharing the road with.

brumby33

Yes- statistics like that are a disturbing revelation.

If you recall, we were appalled by the dreadful circumstances that affected Sydney’s Abdallah family a few years ago.

At the conclusion of the criminal court case, Danny Abdallah was quoted :

“You took laughter and joy out of my household. You ripped my heart out and ran over it in your car “
He went on to say that he blamed society for “teaching kids that drugs and alcohol are cool”

Bob Sakr, who also lost his daughter in that tragedy, said “the only time a father should walk his princess down a church aisle is for her wedding… instead I had to carry her down the aisle to her burial “

In relation to the hit-run death on the road near Grenfell in rural NSW, I did see a media report this morning that police are now looking for a Isuzu commercial vehicle that has damage to its side door and mirr.

[brumby33]

…..
Back about 10 years ago, around 2014, there was a Police blitz in Newcastle around the top of scenic road at Highfields and 1 out of 3 drivers pulled up had illicit substances in their body.....so many charged in one day was a real eye opener about those who we are sharing the road with.

brumby33

Yes- statistics like that are a disturbing revelation.

If you recall, we were appalled by the dreadful circumstances that affected Sydney’s Abdallah family a few years ago.

At the conclusion of the criminal court case, Danny Abdallah was quoted :

“You took laughter and joy out of my household. You ripped my heart out and ran over it in your car “
He went on to say that he blamed society for “teaching kids that drugs and alcohol are cool”

Bob Sakr, who also lost his daughter in that tragedy, said “the only time a father should walk his princess down a church aisle is for her wedding… instead I had to carry her down the aisle to her burial “

In relation to the hit-run death on the road near Grenfell in rural NSW, I did see a media report this morning that police are now looking for a Isuzu commercial vehicle that has damage to its side door and mirr.

My heart bled for those poor children and the families who lost them, they were innocently walking down a footpath as they've done many times before to go and buy icecreams. That moron decided he needed to get some smokes so after drinking and drugs in his system went on his disasterous drive......he should never be released....not only that, he has severely embarrassed his Father who was a long standing Police officer.

Yeah that's good that they may have a profile on that vehicle in the Grenfield incident.....I won't call it an accident because the driver knows he hit someone and didn't stop.....The police said he had hi vis clothing and was in the middle of the day....he should have been seen. Minimum 20 years it should be.

The laws much change that if you were involved in a hit and run, you are 100% responsible and will carry a minimum 20 year term automatically and 25 years if death occurred.. But we all know that won't happen.

[warthog1]

Oh we aren’t tolerant of bad driver behaviour in general, only tolerant when it is against bicycle riders.

Succinct and accurate it appears to me too unfortunately.

Although one of our community officers here is in the Highway patrol as his job. I had a conversation about driver distraction with him a few days ago, citing what happened to Jason Lowndes a few years back and also commenting on the number of drivers I regularly see glancing at their lap whilst doing 100kmh. He is aware of it too but stated how hard they are to catch. They need to be caught in the act it seemed from the conversation and it is hard to do. Some on Police motorbikes are able to do so and there is the use of automated cameras. People quickly become aware of their location though and avoid the behavior near them I would expect.
I am of the opinion using a phone whilst driving should be a mandatory license suspension. I don't see it happening anytime soon. I see our driving standards as on the decline.