Five cyclists mowed down by minivan -- close to home

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Update+charged+March+Road+collision/1807152/story.html

The crash happened around 7:50 on Sunday morning. My wife was coming home from some errands later in the AM and saw the police and the mangled bikes. Later I was driving up Morgan's Grant and saw cruisers and a flat-bed truck at a home on Flamborough, just at the intersection. The truck was labeled "Collision Investigation".

The guy injured worst is a father of two. He has subcranial bleeding and hasn't regained conciousness.

This is a stretch of road I used to bike on almost every day when I lived in Kanata Lakes and worked at Newbridge/Alcatel.

"Mowed down" seems awfully deliberate. I've been reading about this and there doesn't seem to be much to support or refute that.

SeawaySensFan wrote:"Mowed down" seems awfully deliberate. I've been reading about this and there doesn't seem to be much to support or refute that.

The van hit them from behind -- all five of them. I think the term "mowed down" simply explains the effect, not the intent.

Holy moly. I wonder if alcohol was a factor of if the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Hopefully the cyclists all recover.

shabbs wrote:Holy moly. I wonder if alcohol was a factor of if the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Hopefully the cyclists all recover.

Aparently the house (where they loaded up the van) is for sale. It's getting close to the end of the month -- perhaps the guy is moving, which can add a lot of stress. Sunday morning, I doubt it was alcohol, but falling asleep is very possible.

Also, just before Solandt there is an exit lane, and the bike lane has to shift from being next to the curb toward the middle of the road. I remember always hating this part because a lot of cars would turn right, and I had to continue going straight. Quite often I would end up turning onto the sidewalk and then using the pedestrian cross-walk.

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:Holy moly. I wonder if alcohol was a factor of if the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Hopefully the cyclists all recover.

Aparently the house (where they loaded up the van) is for sale. It's getting close to the end of the month -- perhaps the guy is moving, which can add a lot of stress. Sunday morning, I doubt it was alcohol, but falling asleep is very possible.

Also, just before Solandt there is an exit lane, and the bike lane has to shift from being next to the curb toward the middle of the road. I remember always hating this part because a lot of cars would turn right, and I had to continue going straight. Quite often I would end up turning onto the sidewalk and then using the pedestrian cross-walk.

I heard this morning that it was in fact due to alcohol. He turned himself in at around 12pm yesterday, after the incident. I think he went to get his wife and she drove him in.
His car has been seized by police.

Aw, jeez, boozed up at 8AM on a Sunday morning? It took him 4 hours to get his wife (a five minute drive)? If alcohol was involved, I think he was doing a lot of drinking and peeing during those 4 hours.

wprager wrote:Aw, jeez, boozed up at 8AM on a Sunday morning? It took him 4 hours to get his wife (a five minute drive)? If alcohol was involved, I think he was doing a lot of drinking and peeing during those 4 hours.

That's what I heard anyway, BUT, I haven't seen any reports about that yet, so I'm not sure. I just had a few people tell me this morning that alcohol was a factor. I don't know how they know though.

It just makes everything worse for these guys, drunk or not, to flee the scene after an accident. I don't understand it at all. You're just going to be facing a heck of a lot more charges by doing that.

I'm assuming the 4 hours it took for him to get his wife and get back was for him to sober up as much as possible. If it is true, I don't understand how anyone can be drunk at 8 am. Unless of course, and i'm sure we've all done this at some point in our lives, he woke up after a hard night of drinking and was still drunk. Most drunk driving incidents occur between 3am and 9am.

Prags -

I live in the area as well; it's crazy the way people drive down March Rd.

There have been way too many accidents at the corner of March and Morgan's Grant, because the vehicles coming from Dunrobin/etc are still going 120kmh and can't stop for the red light. Trying to turn right out of Klondike is hard, but turning left is nearly impossible.

You are right, it may have been an issue of driver fatigue. Although Sunday morning may just mean a long Saturday night, so alcohol may still be a factor. The fact that the driver went home, then turned himself in a few hours later is disturbing.

For those of us who have kids that ride bikes, it's especially scary.

Turning right from Klondike is now fairly easy because they sort-of paved what eventually turns into a second lane.

I thought the majority of the accidents at Morgan's Grant were from people crossing from the Shirley's Brook side turning left onto March. Whatever the case, you're right, that corner has more than its share of accidents.

Driver is out on bail:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Driver+accused+mowing+down+March+Road+cyclists+gets+bail/1820537/story.html

wprager wrote:Driver is out on bail:
[url=http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Driver+accused+mowing+down+March+Road+cyclists+gets+bail/1820537/story.html

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Driver+accused+mowing+down+March+Road+cyclists+gets+bail/1820537/story.html[/quote[/url]]

I can't believe he got out on bail, it's absolutely unacceptable and unbelievable. There's our system at work for you again. Nice eh?

[quote="SensGirl11"]

wprager wrote:Driver is out on bail:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Driver+accused+mowing+down+March+Road+cyclists+gets+bail/1820537/story.html[/quote]

I can't believe he got out on bail, it's absolutely unacceptable and unbelievable. There's our system at work for you again. Nice eh?

I doubt he did it on purpose. More deliberate and violent crimes have gotten the same result.

[quote="SeawaySensFan"]

SensGirl11 wrote:

wprager wrote:Driver is out on bail:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Driver+accused+mowing+down+March+Road+cyclists+gets+bail/1820537/story.html[/quote]

I can't believe he got out on bail, it's absolutely unacceptable and unbelievable. There's our system at work for you again. Nice eh?

I doubt he did it on purpose. More deliberate and violent crimes have gotten the same result.

I'm not saying he did it on purpose, obviously. It still doesn't mean he should walk out of jail after 4 days though, when the people he hit are suffering in the hospital and one of them still hasn't come out of his coma. This guy should be in jail until his trial is over, period. What rights should he have at this point? I realize it wasn't on purpose, but he did it, and if he was drunk or fell asleep that is a very serious crime and he needs to pay for it, starting now.

He's been asked to surrender his passport, not drink, keep working and stay at home. He also paid $55K cash bond. I don't know how much of a flight risk he is. His house is already sold, so it appears he was already moving (where? who knows). Coming to work, though, man. I think I'd rather be in jail than face co-workers after running away from an accident I caused.