Tour de Palm Springs Fatality

I've done this ride with my son and a friend of his...



https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/crime_courts/2018/02/13/suspect-had-lenghty-history-speeding-reckless-driving-before-fatal-collision-tour-de-palm-springs-ri/334535002/
Suspect had lengthy history of reckless driving before fatal Tour de Palm Springs crash
Colin AtagiUpdated 9:04 a.m. PT Feb. 14, 2018
Tour de Palm Springs cyclists struck by vehicle on Dillon Road, one dead.

The motorist accused of killing a Tour de Palm Springs bicyclist while driving 100 mph along the event route on Saturday had been pulled over three times last year for speeding on highways and city streets, according to Riverside County Superior Court records.

Ronnie Huerta Jr. also was convicted in 2016 and 2017 for other moving violations – including running a stop sign, talking on a cell phone while driving and making an unsafe lane change. His license was suspended on Dec. 4 due to negligent driving and failure to appear in court, according to the Associated Press.

RELATED: Suspect arrested in fatal collision with Tour de Palm Springs rider

The 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter following the death of bicyclist Mark Kristofferson, a 49-year-old resident of Lake Stevens, Washington, on Saturday. Kristofferson's fiancee, who was riding along with him, was seriously injured in the collision on Dillon Road in Indio Hills. She was airlifted to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.

Huerta was released from jail after posting $75,000 bail. He's tentatively scheduled to be arraigned in Riverside County Superior Court April 11, according to jail records.


Riders say safety measures wouldn't have prevented fatal collision

The speed limit on I-10 is 70 mph and on Palm Drive it is 55 mph, according to court records.

Authorities said Huerta didn't appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol Saturday, but toxicology results are still pending.

 

I hope them send him to the firing squad.

 

Futile hopes my friend.

 

Unreal. Stunned. Saddened.

Humans are the best and worst things that have ever lived.

 

CHP Officer Radford about the crash... “I don’t call crashes accidents. This is a perfect example. Someone made poor choices, driving recklessly, way too fast. And the outcome is a tragic one where someone died.”

 

I am actually surprised that his bail was only $75K. He is a multi/repeat-offender and now his actions have claimed a life. To me that is worth millions in bail.

 

Not to mention that he's already "failed to appear" in court at least once in the past. What a piece of garbage.

 

To hit someome on Dillon Rd, you almost have to be trying to do it on purpose. This guy should not have been able to post bond with a prior FTA.

Unfortunately he'll probably get a relatively light slap on the wrist.

 

Thoughts for the families and friends of the fallen riders.

 

This is how you get away with murder in the US. Just use your car on a pedestrian/cyclist.

This is horrifying. This ******* needs to do serious time.

May family, friends and all those impacted in the cycling community find some peace in their faith.

 

California will protect him, cuzzzzz its California. Don't you know its not his fault? He is misguided and needs help and people who do bad things had a bad child life and they are not responsible. It's societies fault. Try to hold someone accountable in California of his stature...
This is a real tragedy. Mikie no likey.

 

Personally, I think he would look good with a hole in his forehead.

 

Sh!t driving is totally acceptable in this culture. No one bats an eye at going 80 MPH on the freeway, or running stop signs, or any number of things they shouldn't do.

I imagine few here follow the speed limit...

How is that different than any other state?

 

I'm not exactly sure we want to get in to a conversation about how California protects perpetrators, do we?

 

It's all too easy to misdirect frustration and anger in the wake of something like this. @Sidewalk, you nailed it in two sentences. This could (sadly, does), happen in every state.

Until there's a sea change in driving attitudes in the US, I'm sticking to the dirt.

 

My road crew (OCVelo) were on the scene a few minutes after (before the emergency crew), and they witnessed the carnage and live-saving attempts.
I was supposed to be on that ride with them but ended visiting my daughter instead.

That is one of the fastest stretches of road I know of. Stright, with a slight downhill and tailwind. 35+mph speed is common. Definitely the "highlight" of the ride.
That murderer has no excuses. Whatever issue he was dealing with cost two people big time. I have no mercy on him. Hopefully, he'll become someone's bitch in prison.

 

Tragic

 

Already a failure to appear. He's out on bail... this sick fuch is already in Mexico, regardless if it's his home country or not. I'd bet this fugger never shows up in court.

 

How can you even post bail as a repeat offender doing 100 miles per hour and killing someone?

 

Loose interpretation of the 8th amendment: "Excessive bail shall not be required..."

People also howl about no bail being allowed in drug cases, on the other end of the spectrum.

 

I think this judge messed up, and the D.A. should be screaming bloody murder about it.
But that whole collegiality relationship thing among officers of the court is squashing that.

 

I would think that a current FTA would be reason enough to deny bail on felony charges. Not excessive if you have proven you won't appear.

 

For some reason... This one is REALLY working me....

The Scene...






Our Buddy Huerta...

 

Question, struggling to put the words together right. It seems to me that when a tragedy happens the bad guy gets the attention. The victim and their family get pushed aside rather quickly. Why is that? Things like this have been happening since the beginning of time and will continue til the end of it. My point I think is. We need to focus more on the victims and helping them get moving again. The criminals don't deserve any attention they live shitty lives anyway. The system will handle the justice part weather it's to the extent you want it to or not. It's pretty much proven that death penalty or not people will still do stupid Sh!t.

 

Adding to this, some criminals are looking for the attention. Why give it to them. I don't think that was the case in this incident. Just think he was an irresponsible a hole.

 

I agree....after the Vegas shooting, CNN Anchors refuses to refer to the shooter by name, as he did not deserve the attention.

 

It was about this time last year when a cyclist got hit in my home province. http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/new-brunswick/ellen-s-law-legislation-introduced-1.3986590

The good news was that it precipitated a new one metre law requiring motorists to provide adequate space.

But, hard to enforce...I've had a few close calls, on bike, jogging, walking the dog....

Then of course many people complained about cyclists and how they feel they don't have to adhere to traffic rules yadda yadda. Many proclaimed bikes should be registered vehicles, insured and other nonsense.

 

I am in no way defending the piece of garbage who killed the cyclist, but I want you take a close look at this shot, on Dillon Road, from the 2011 TdPS. Notice anything wrong???



Yeah, that. It's like that on every TdPS. Roadies (and I'm one of them, but not one of them) really need to get their sh!t together, or they're gonna get shut out of roads like this. See: https://www.bicycling.com/culture/t...nts-to-tax-every-cyclist-who-visits-the-state

Read the whole thing. Yes, there are people in power who think this way.

 

That stretch of road was one of the best parts of the ride... 40+ on the downhills. Sad...

That's my son on my first Schwinn at the 30 second mark. He recently asked me if there were any centuries coming up that we could do.

 

I can’t even imagine what the family members and injured are going through, as well as those who witnessed it and the aftermath. Tragic in more ways than words can describe.

We should fly a bicycle specific flag at places like Oaks/Luge/etc that honors our fallen fellow riders.