US: Better 911 contacts might have foiled fatal bike crash
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE- In this June 9, 2016 file photo, mangled bicycles are tagged as evidence at the Michigan State Police crime lab in Kalamazoo, Mich. The National Transportation Safety Board says better communication between police agencies might have prevented the deaths of five bicyclists last year in southwestern Michigan. A pickup truck plowed into cyclists on a rural road near Kalamazoo last June. The NTSB says 22 minutes passed between the first 911 call about an erratic driver and the crash. The board says Charles Pickett Jr. might have been stopped if dispatchers for three police agencies had shared more information. (Mark Bugnaski/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group via AP) (The Associated Press)
The National Transportation Safety Board says better communication between police agencies might have prevented the deaths of five bicyclists last year in southwestern Michigan.
A pickup truck plowed into a pack of cyclists on a rural road near Kalamazoo last June. The driver, Charles Pickett Jr., is charged with second-degree murder and driving while under the influence of drugs.
The NTSB says 22 minutes passed between the first 911 call about an erratic driver and the crash in Cooper Township. The board says Pickett might have been intercepted by an officer if dispatchers for three police agencies had shared more information among themselves about three 911 calls.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NTSB member Earl Weener disagreed last week. He's not convinced that communication by dispatchers was a contributing factor in the crash.