Reading stories like this one just makes me insane. OK, I was insane before reading it, but I’m even crazier now.
It’s sad enough that a cyclist riding legally on a New Mexico road is dead. And lacking details of the accident, one has to feel some compassion for the motorist, who will have to live with the knowledge that he killed another human being while his teen-age kid rode shotgun.
But Judas Priest. Who the fuck does state-police mouthpiece Eric Garcia think he is? To loftily opine that law-abiding cyclists “visit their local bike stores for brochures and information on recommended routes of travel, instead of riding on open roadways,” is one of the meanest, dumbest things I’ve heard to come out of a cop’s mouth in quite a while, and as a former police reporter and occasional miscreant I do not lack for experience in this matter.
“The bicyclist was riding in the roadway and the motorist didn’t see him,” this apparatchik, a self-avowed “avid bicyclist,” told the Las Cruces Sun-News. “State police currently have no intention of citing the driver.”
Let’s reword this a bit, see how it works. “The motorcyclist was riding in the roadway and the motorist didn’t see him.” Or, “The motorist was standing in the roadway fixing a flat and the motorist didn’t see him.” How about, “The sports car was driving in the roadway and the trucker didn’t see him.”
Make any sense to you? Nor to me. In my twisted little world, the operator of a motor vehicle is supposed to be aware of his surroundings; where he is, what he’s doing, and even more important, what those who share the road with him are doing.
This motorist was said to have been driving “a small pickup truck,” so maybe his vehicle doesn’t climb much better than a 63-year-old man on a bicycle, and that’s why he was in the far right lane of the three available to him. Or maybe he’s one of the assclowns I’ve seen punch it up to 85 and use a stretch of highway off-ramp to pass two lanes of traffic on the right before veering from the shoulder into the left lane. Perhaps he hasn’t washed his windshield in a month of Sundays, or it’s so spider-webbed with cracks and pitted by Sonoran sand that you can’t see much through it when the sun hangs low in the March sky. His kid lipped off, maybe, and our driver turned to give him the stink-eye.
We don’t know, and we may never know, because the New Mexico State Police “currently have no intention of citing the driver.” Lovely.
Here’s another hypothetical. Let’s say the cyclist was — oh, I don’t know — let’s make him a New Mexico State Police lieutenant who serves as a public information officer. Think we might see some law enforcement then?
Mad Blog Media 
I just can’t read or hear about shit like this anymore – I simply go blind with rage. It is impossible for me to imagine that in ANY state you could come up with the conclusion that citing the driver was not an option. I don’t know whether to cry or start throwing things through the windows…
Thanks for posting this, Patrick.
And thank you, K, for bringing it to my attention. I love New Mexico, but damn, I had a ton of close calls while living there. Hit by one SUV; merely menaced by a variety of motorists, both rich and poor; had a full bottle of beer thrown at me from a passing car (what a waste of beer); and never so much as a sleepy nod from law enforcement acknowledging my right to a small corner of whichever road I happened to be occupying at the time.
Something mildly similar with no deaths involved: I did a t-shirt ride this weekend. (You know, where you pay money and get a t-shirt.) It was in Montgomery County, about an hour north of Downtown PetroMetro. It was a warm-up event for the upcoming MS-150 from Houston to Austin. Probably about 3,000 weekend warriors riding everything from Huffy’s to Cervelo R-5’s. The course was open, but with LOTS of support and protection from sheriffs and constables. However, when cars came by, they’d buzz riders, cuss and yell out of their windows, and occasionally throw things. One lady in a Mercedes yelled that we shouldn’t be allowed on roads until we’re legally allowed to do so. A constable at one of the corners told us to be very careful of the locals. He’d just thrown his morning cup of coffee at a motorist to get his attention because he wouldn’t stop when the constable ordered him to stop. It’s terrifying to ride on open roads in this part of the world.
Another related story: My best friend and damn good masters racer regularly does group training rides that include a local police officer. The officer told my friend that his superior (off-the-record) instructs rookies to cite cyclists involved in accidents, because, well, it’s ALWAYS the cyclist’s fault. Hmmm. Sounds like the NM officer started his career in the PetroMetro.
Khai – You’re a NM resident, if I recall. While this may be as effective as urinating into the aeolian currents, I wonder if you might have a little more leverage complaining about this than the average John from outtta-state?
Still 2 feet of snow on the deck here. At least it got cold again today, so the skate-skiing will be good for a little while longer. I used to be an OGWGFIW, but not any mor e… I’ll have another Spare Tire, please …
Sorry, should be “Khal”. My old eyes don’t see them tiny typefaces so well …
There are still quite a few of us (Mesilla Valley Bicycle Coalition, Bicycle Coalition of New Mexico, My Sorry Ass) trying to gather information on WTF actually happened out there. I plan on calling Governor Martinez and personally pissing into the wind on this one.
It’s NOT just new Mexico, it’s the UNITED STATES, where cars (and their drivers) are king. The roads are for DRIVING on, using them for any other purpose is tolerated, barely. Just another reason we’re moving to Italy as soon as possible. This kind of shit almost never happens there.
I have to believe that it is the “Blue Wall” protecting this guy as to why no charges. A lot of cops do a great job, but that badge is a pass for an awful lot of things to be swept away
Don’t hold your breath. Have you met my country?
We had a deputy sheriff on a bicycle get killed a couple summers ago by a texting driver on the straightest, flattest, easiest 3-mile stretch of road in our county. Broad daylight with the morning sun at their backs.
Pretty much vehicular manslaughter. OK, precisely. No charges. No revocation or suspension of license.
Frankly, I don’ t care if these killers go to jail. But it’s damn sure the job of law enforcement and the legislatures to get them off the road and I mean yesterday.