Lake Norman Excursion Crash
July 17th, 2010, 8:30am. Lake Norman Excursion. Prior to the first rest stop, a driver, previously observed leaving a driveway, passed 60+ riders and allegedly failed to give the minimum safe passing distance and collided with at least two cyclists.
This is an unfortunate event on a lot of levels. It is most unfortunate for the injured riders and the trauma of all those involved. It’s also unfortunate for the ride organization; Steve from Cool Breeze is a major cycling advocate and his leadership for safety and road sharing is well known. Safety and courteous road sharing were stressed during the during the pre-start rider meeting.
Please help share the details if you know any.
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July 17, 2010 at 8:38 pm
I was on the ride and was almost hit by the driver when he was recklessly speeding around the huge group for several miles. When he passed me, I commented that he was going to hit someone. Once we came upon the accident, it looked like he had attempted to drive away but was immediately surrounded by 40+ angry cyclists and stopped. I”m curious to know if this man was charged.
July 18, 2010 at 10:41 am
I was one of the riders that was almost hit by this guy. He came past at least 60 to 80 riders at a high rate of speed. I was almost hit by him as the rider behind me actually thought I was hit with his mirror. The driver of the white car also almost hit 4 or 5 riders all on tri bikes in a train, most were women, it was a miracle that they were not hit, and it was a miracle that no one was killed considering the high rate of speed the driver had. This was not a case of people not sharing the road. This was a case of the driver Recklessly driving and not obeying the law of allowing 3 feet between a vehicle and a bicyclists. He should have been charged with at least 50 counts of breaking that one law alone. When I came upon the scene I thought why are they having a rest stop in the middle of the road. Only then did I realize it was the driver that almost hit so many of us, and did exactly what I predicted he would do.
I got off my bike and approached him, I have to admit I was very upset that this clown could have taken my life, or a fellow cyclists life and I had words with him. He was extremely scared as there were about 80 cyclists surrounding him and said that he didn’t mean anything that he lived out in the area and always drove safely around the cyclists he saw on the road. That was a complete farce as he was only worried that he was going to have his ass handed to him by many of us that wanted to do just that. I removed myself from an ugly situation as I did not want to make it uglier and heard many more people giving him their two cents. There were at least 3 emergency vehicles that passed us before we made it to the fire station about 2 miles down the road, so there was a great response from those folks.
To the guys that had cooler heads I want to thank you for controlling the situation. There should be multiple charges filed against this guy and if either cyclists needs someone to testify on the reckless driving this guy demonstrated contact me as there are at least 2 people along with me that would gladly do so. All in all we were fortunate that no one was killed.
July 18, 2010 at 11:19 am
I was also on the ride when the car came flying past which was very scary feeling. I was thinking at the time how good it would be to have video to document what had just occurred. I was also thinking of the devastation if a car had been approaching from the opposite direction. These thoughts were running though my mind even before I realized there was an accident ahead. I don’t know what happened. When I came upon the scene, one of the riders was stationed ahead of the accident directing all of us to keep moving. I observed emergency vehicles traveling toward the scene. It seemed to be a very rapid response. I hope no one was seriously injured.
July 18, 2010 at 11:30 am
I’m glad riders are speaking out on these type of drivers. This has got to stop and start being enforced by the local and county police departments this kind of disregard for bike riders is getting out of control. I was riding pass the drive when this joker decided to pull out of his driveway, I was wondering what he was thinking then. The road was full of riders running two wide as far as i could see. I thought were is he going to go when a car comes at him in the other lane. Well he passed me with less then a foot clearance and keep cutting back in to the right lane when there was only one rider and then cut extremely close to him and then would move back out to pass more riders. I watched all the way up the incline with 60+ riders at risk.
And every rider he’d pass he gave less and less riding room at 50+ MPH over the double lines. So i was not surprised when i came up on the accident and saw that it was the same car and IDIOT. Thank god it wasn’t another fatality and thank god it didn’t involve more riders. I probably saw this same disregard for riders safety at least four more times during the ride. Everyone is in a big ass hurry to get around riders only to risk injury or worse to the riders and innocent others only to save a couple seconds.
What a deal kill or hurt someone or slow down and wait for couple extra seconds.
July 18, 2010 at 6:39 pm
I was also there and can confirm the other reports. One thing I would add is that when he passed us, there was a slight curve to the right, so he was passing us way above the speed limit into what was essentially a blind corner. Complete and total disregard for the safety of everyone on the road. I really hope this guy gets the book thrown at him.
July 18, 2010 at 8:17 pm
I witnessed and was present during the entire thing. First thing, everyone is okay. Nobody needed any medical treatment at the scene nor taken to the hospital.
To make this short, the State Trooper that showed up 45 mins – 1 hour after the accident didn’t want to take a report because there were no major injuries. He continued to say that he couldn’t charge/issue a citation to the driver because he didn’t witness it (you mean to say that if I shoot someone, I won’t get charged because he wasn’t there to see it? Hmmm). Then some cyclists offered to give statements, only then did the officer issue a “illegal turn” (or something of that nature) citation. Much less than a slap on the wrist.
How are cyclists to have any rights/safety if even the North Carolina State Highway Patrol don’t even care about us? Very frustrating.
July 18, 2010 at 8:40 pm
This is the 4th car/bike wreck in the past 2 weeks in the area. Motorists are not demonstrating commom courtesy or patience when “sharing the road”. Its time law enforecement starting doing more than slapping wrists or ignoring these situations by ignoring the potential severity.
July 18, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Like another poster said, just priot to the crash, this guy was doing 50+ mph on the wrong side of the road around a blind curve. Had another car been coming the other way, the Lake Norman Excursion would have made NBC Nightly News last night. There were SO many people in the vicinity of this Kyle Bush wannabe when he pulled this stunt that I still can’t believe no one was killed. If he doesn’t at least get charged with agressive driving, NC highway patrol is just contributing to the problem.
July 19, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I too was there. And the sound of the “THUD” is still stuck in my head. Since I didn’t actually see the crash, I knew I had nothing to offer and moved along when someone started telling us to. The ones that were hit were amazingly lucky. It actually looked a lot worse than it was. But I guess all the bikes I saw that were down were from other riders getting involved. And this clown gets a joke of a ticket? Nice. Maybe cooler heads shouldn’t have prevailed. Is that the only way cyclists will ever see any justice? You get a steeper penalty if you hit a car… or even someone on a motor scooter.
July 20, 2010 at 10:16 pm
I was on the 65 mile ride and just missed this accident at the start. I remember the car roaring past but honestly it wasn’t the last one either. My ride lasted nearly 4 hours and there were several instances where cars and trucks roared by the cyclists. Everyone talked about this the entire day during my ride.
July 21, 2010 at 1:43 pm
I rode the Excursion a couple years ago. Did the 100 miler. Probably will not return unless Pearth Road is taken out of the route. We were not on it long, but that road was way too busy on a Saturday afternoon for cyclist. Seems like I was passed by landscapers towing trailers one after another. Sure, we have as much right to the road as cars, but you have to use some common sense when you pick your route.
July 23, 2010 at 6:28 am
I was also on the Lake Norman Excursion and witnessed this guy in a white car pass the group of riders at a high rate of speed and heard the thud of impact. Very unfortunate for our sport. What is more unfortunate is the NC Highway Patrol’s lack of courage or knowledge to charge this guy with more than making an illegal turn. Now we have a talk show host “Tara Servesas” on WBT advocating cyclist should not be allowed on the roads. This may be a tongue and cheek story but it is inflaming the attitudes of drivers and increasing our dangers on the road.
This incident is further evidence, NC needs the three foot pass law and the contributory negligence defense needs to be eliminated when cyclist are involved. Thoughts?
July 26, 2010 at 2:32 pm
The passing law in NC is 2 feet. I think that’s fine. I actually oppose increasing it to 3. Two is plenty, if you actually get it. Three makes a same-lane pass of a single bike in a 12-foot lane illegal in most cases. I say that’s excessive, and impedes reasonable road-sharing.
I favor a law legalizing (not requiring) crossing solid centerline to pass a vehicle going less than half the speed limit, provided the oncoming lane is clear, and sight distance is adequate to make the move safe. Ohio recently passed such a law.
I completely agree on contributory negligence. NC is one of only four states that still cling to that. A bill changing our system to comparative fault (among other provisions) was tried again in Raleigh this session, and failed again. A version passed the House, then hit the Senate and got watered down to the point where many backers withdrew their support. It never got to a floor vote.
I don’t see any reason to confine the reform to cases involving cyclists.
I went up to Raleigh and lobbied for this bill. CABA organized a lobby day for this, with carpool. There were only three of us who turned out. This is a perennial issue in NC. It will come up again, and I’m sure there will be another lobbying trip when that time comes. We could use some more support next time.
August 6, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Wow.. That stinks!.
But I guess I don’t have all the facts. Why were the riders riding 40-60 in a group? And not spaced out better for cars to pass. How did they think a car could pass them safely,.. at any time?
I have been a full time bike commuter for the past three years, and see lots of stuff like this. But I have to keep in the back of my mind always…200lbs vs 3000lbs. A bike is going to lose out on that one. Remember to “SHARE THE ROAD”. Sounds like the riders did not do what the slogan says? I thought it went both ways. Well, just my thoughts I guess.
I’ll read more about it online.
November 15, 2010 at 9:47 pm
jUST STAY OUT OF THE WAY.