A newly released report into a fatal crash last year involving a pickup truck and a group of cyclists near Phoenix casts doubt on the driver’s claim that the car’s steering locked up.
The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday released a report on the Feb. 25, 2023 Goodyear Bridge crash. Two cyclists were killed and 17 others injured.
The NTSB observed technicians driving the vehicle, and the truck’s steering functioned normally, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety found no problems with the steering, according to the report.
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The truck driver, identified as Pedro Quintana-Lujan, was initially arrested on charges of two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault, 18 counts of endangerment and two counts of moving violation resulting in serious bodily injury.
He was released after Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell asked Goodyear police to investigate further, AZFamily.com reported. Police later said the incident appeared to be an accident, and Mitchell’s office said it would not pursue any felony charges, Phoenix television news stations reported.
It was unclear Wednesday whether the Goodyear City Attorney’s Office would file any charges against Quintana-Luján in light of the NTSB report.
The National Transportation Safety Board has released a report on a fatal crash last year involving a pickup truck and a group of cyclists outside Phoenix. The report questions the driver’s claim that the vehicle’s steering locked up, causing the crash. (Fox News)
An email message sent to Goodyear officials was not immediately returned, nor was a request for comment sent to an email address believed to belong to Quintana-Lujan.
A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it had nothing to add to the NTSB report, emphasizing that Mitchell had previously noted that two independent evaluations of the vehicle found no problems. did.
Quintana-Lujan was initially on his way to work with materials he had picked up for work when a truck pulling a trailer struck 20 people on the Cotton Lane Bridge, about 30 miles west of Goodyear. He told police that he had collided with a group of cyclists. Phoenix.
Quintana-Lujan was driving on the left side of two northbound lanes when her steering locked up and she drifted into the empty right lane and into the adjacent bike lane, where she heard a “metallic sound”. He said he heard.
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Police said a reenactment of the crash showed that when the driver entered the bike lane, he also hit the concrete fence separating the road from the sidewalk, leaving black tire marks halfway up the wall and knocking out several cyclists. It was announced that it was discovered that he had slept.
The incident has shocked avid cyclists in the area, who are now encouraging other cyclists to travel in larger groups for added protection. Survivors took part in a memorial ride in Goodyear last Sunday.
“I don’t think this is the beginning, but it will bring an end, an emotional closure,” Clay Wells, who was riding with the group for the first time since being injured in the accident, told AZFamily.com. Ta. “Long time, no see.”
