Give that the driver of the pickup was clearly at fault, what should the riders have been doing to avoid becoming statistics?
http://www.kfvs12.com/story/17306847/1-dead-9-injured-man-arrested-after-multiple-motorcycle-pickup-crash#.T3sxQxZkwP0.facebook  />
 TAMAROA, IL (KFVS) - One person is dead, nine people were injured, and a man arrested on several charges including reckless homicide after a multiple motorcycle, pickup truck, van crash Sunday evening in Perry County, Illinois.

It happened at 5:17 p.m. on Route 51, one and a half miles south of Tamaroa.  That is also a half mile north of Kimsey Road.  Six vehicles were involved.

Two of the injured were flown to hospitals and three others were taken by ambulance to area hospitals, according to Tamaroa Police.  One of those flown to the hospital was a 13-year-old girl.

According to ISP, Thomas Harris, 43, of Clarksville, Tenn. was driving a white 2001 Chevy Silverado and tried to pass a red Chrysler van driven by Jo Ellen Lohnes, 40, of Traymont, Ill.

As the Chevy tried to pass the Chrysler in the northbound lane, six motorcycles were driving south.

The Chevy pickup failed to complete the pass, and hit the van while he was trying to get back into the northbound lanes.

The Chevy spun out of control and went back into southbound lanes, hit a Harley motorcycle driven by Roy I. Hackworth, 61, of Pinckneyville.  He and his passenger Laurie A. Jenkel, 42, of Tamaroa were treated for minor injuries.

As the bikes behind Hackworth tried to avoid the collision, three went to the pavement.

After the Chevy hit Hackworth's motorcycle, the pickup truck went into a field where it flipped.

Passengers in the Chevy pickup include Jason I. Coffel, 38, of DuQuoin, Chanda Schriefer, 31 of Centralia, a 13-year-old girl, and 12-year-old boy both of Centralia.

Harris is charged with for one count of reckless homicide, 10 counts of aggravated DUI, one count of driving while license suspended, one county of improper lane usage, one count of improper overtaking, one count of driving too fast for conditions, and one count of failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Harris was taken to the Perry County Jail on $250,000 bond.

None of the motorcyclists were wearing helmets.

Copyright 2012 KFVS. All rights reserved.

 Every time I encounter a vehicle trying to pass on the opposit side of the road and ride the shoulder (if there is one and it's clear) If I'm worried they may not make it I will come to a complete stopped. If there is no shoulder I will slow down as much as is safe considering the traffic hehind me and clench my butt till they pass.

It may seem overly cautious but I lost a very good friend in a similar way about 5 yrs ago.

Wow that's a hard one Savage because not being there its hard to say. I'm trying to get the picture in my mind of what it would have looked like felt like and the urgency of actions. But this I shall try 1 looking ahead, moved to single line and far right of lane, all of this prior to impact of first bike. They may have started slowing down as well and increasing distance between each other. However this may not have made a dam bit of difference Why? Well when the pick up truck side smacked the Chrysler both could have done just about anything from getting stuck together to both sliding out. Now the three that tried to avoid the collision I guessing they did lowend slides, and that would happen in such a situation. So I'm not sure if my solution would have helped. If they moved to single file postion and increased distances from each other and began to slow and prepare for the oh shit moment, would less be injured? for in single file and greater distances when they observed an on coming truck, then it bounced of the car and came back into their traffic lane could they then have moved quickly to the left avoiding the pick up? I don't know was there a bend in the road? Other natural items like trees and such hidding or blocking vision? But on thing is for sure May the pick up driver needs to by pass the bar. What a mess! What the F does a helmet have to do with any of this, its not like the pickup drivers helmet slide over his face and he couldn't see. This is a tough one but a common one, I"m going to pay more attention to what I do as I see these occurances so I can better answer these tricky questions. Its a good posting, good for thinking. have a great one! T

When someone gets behind the wheel drunk & has no actual drivers license, and cause's this sort of damage,throw away the key !!!

"T" has a good point,I used to ride with a couple of different informal riding groups,we always went ovr hand signals that sort of thing before taking off on a run,typically 5-10 of us,riding staggered formation,seems like even if they dropped speed & opened up the gaps,its anyone bet where the two vehicles would end up at.

the writer making some sort of connection between the accident and lack of helmets is absolutely idiotic

I had a similar incident locally, a canyon road,coming around turn two cars racing from opposite direction,one tryin to pass on a blind turn,I went up on the shoulder at abt 40+,fortunately I was hugging the bend already or I would not be here writing this,it happened so fast n I was so unnerved I couldnt turn around fast enuff to catch up with those morons !!, besides having to handle riding the crud on the shoulder & come to a stop.

A lot of accidents can be avoided by good lane placement of your ride,other times like this post, there is no safe avenue out.

I hate to judge based on what I read in a news article - too little information to make a truly informed decision. But assuming the charges are good, the DUI trumps everything else here in my opinion. You may be able to control every aspect of what *you're* doing on the road, but you can't control what other drivers are doing. And if someone you're sharing the road with is driving under the influence, I'm not sure what anyone else could do to be safe, other than find some magical way to suddenly be somewhere else.

Personally, I wouldn't get too excited about the statement about the riders not wearing helmets. It's not an attempt to blame the riders. Accident reports always say whether or not the riders were wearing helmets, or if drivers are wearing seat belts. It gets picked up and put in the new article, but it's not really a judgement against the riders, just a statement. I personally wish they would stop including that information because all it really does is get the nabobs chattering about how riders should be wearing helmets. But I don't see it as blaming the riders for their fate, either.

'not wearing a helmet' seems to be the last line in every news story regardless of who was at fault.

It can be easy to suggest what one might have done in such a situation but things happen so quickly. Perhaps the bikers DID slow down when they first saw the truck beginning to pass. Perhaps the drunk had plenty of time to get back in the right lane but just didn't take that time. Once he crossed back over into the path of the bikers I doubt there was much they could have done. As diligent and cautious and conscious of our surroundings as we are, some things are unavoidable.

Peace

Yet one more time! Lets over shadow the real Issue. First All ready had a DUI. Second No licance. third The fact others where in the truck with him. and Finely We seam to be willing to allow this kinda of think regularly enuff to NO LONGER BE SUPRISED!!!!
10 counts of DUI so what! Why not charge him with littering wile where at it. Get a rope! Sell everthing this fool owns give it to the victoms of his murderous malice. Than to show the world we are not going to TAKE DRUNKS ON OUR ROADS!!!! HANG HIS ASS AT THE BUSYEST BAR IN TOWN!!!! Its plane and simple no long term math A BOX FOR A BOX. If his famlie aint got the money to pay for his spot in the cemtary. Leave his ass to rot in the feilds.
Sorry to be a bit over the top. But this Kinda shit chaps my hide...
Also the news ending with No Helmets where on. Thanks Ass hole wile your at you next COP shoting why not bring up the MILLONS SPENT ON THE ******* WAKE WHEN THAY BURY THE FOOL! See how that works out for you ass hole...

i watched the video on that link...........the justice system is to blame for this 1! that man should hv never been there to begin with.multiple duis?y was he out on the streets to begin with.long term forced rehab 1st then locked up if that didnt work but should not hv had the ability to be driving!it fires me up when ppl do shit that affect the rest of us.in this case affected the innocent riders and the other vehicle!times up buddy!

It is stories like this that drive me. Im a DUI traffic officer in South Carolina as of today we have the worst DUI fatal crash rate in the country. I have locked the same guy up twice twice in less than 30 hours. Impaired driving is looked at differently than other crimes by judges and jurys because most people who drink at one time or another has driven when they shouldnt (cops included). Prosecutors are backlogged for years on DUI cases so alot are dropped to reckless driving so the offender can get cought multipal times and do no jail time. The bad part in the time it took me to type this on my phone 10 people died on the roadways of our country by impaired drivers

I am sorry. Its not the ACT that I find to be nearly as dispicable as the news on ever viglant trail to paint bikers as risk takers for little more than the thrill of it. In the long run yes I agree there needs to be somthing done about being under the infulance and driving. But I far more worried about the damage done to bikers by the over zelot news crew looking to build a story on our fallen brothers/sisters backs.
In the local area we have a Bike Crew that has made the news a few times in the last few months. Gobal Grinders MC. Theres been a few shotings at open partys. One can not underestmate the news resolve to paint this badly. Just as this story broke on the local news out here in the boonies, A pair of local members of one of the other local MCs where ran down by a drunk killing a rider The driver was caught by the rest of the crew and was turned over to the local P.D. without injury. The rider killed was one of the MCs wifes and was 3 months pregent. Charges filed in this are to include DWI and 2 counts of manslaughter. In other words THE DRUNK WILL BE OUT IN LESS THAN 7 years. Yet it never made the news. But a pair of shootings at an open party at a minnor MCs bash did. Go figer? My commit about the HUGE!!!! Money spent to Gorlyafie the police after there deaths I would have expected a larger rumbleings from the world at large. Mabie I not the only one that sees it for what it is. A WASTE OF MONEY THAT COULD GO TO THE FAMLIES OF THE FALLEN OFFICERS!
Lets not mix worlds here. 2 problems each have driffant issues yet there intertwined by a News broadcast that puts one on a pedastill and the other only makes it note worthy if thay look bad. God forbid I use the deaths of fallen officers to promote the failure of the news to give equel and fair billing to those that have fallen. I know that in the past bikers have more than filled the bill of wrong deeds. But to use the words of the AMA 99% of the bikers out the are the nicest people out there. Yet here it is decades sence the Holerster and Lancaster Big Bike ralleys that got out of control. Places like Black Hills and Daytona have turned the Big ralleys in to big money. Look at Toys for Tots and the huge biker turn outs. Yet seldom do we ever hear about this kind of good will. But boy let a patch holder flip off a young kid tossing junk out a window of the car. And the next thing you know its a gang of 1000s out scaring young childen. But I degress.
My thing we should all start doing is any time we read or hear about one of these broadly one sided news reports. Is to write a letter to the edtor of the new group noteing your displesure in the style of reporting thay seam to feel is nessary.

We have the same myopic focus out here in the press ,sadly enough its like a syndrome of the media empires that are being built on feeding falshoods to the general public to push their agenda,whatever the crikeyasht tht is ???

Hollywood made tons of cash building up the whole bad biker image,I believe Easy Rider brought in some of the highest gross of any film at that time? The whole image has been cast in the press that way ever since those days in Hollister n the media sensationlized it, made it legend, turned it into a whole mindset for a whole class of people that will never ride n never will understand our fascination with it..

I admire Percy,it must take quite a bit of self control when ya bring in some jerk drunk & he just took out some innocent folks,me I would probably find the nearest tree n hang em high,sort of like frontier justice.So I agree with others here this jerk doesnt deserve to live,yet I also believe in the law,and no matter the offense each has a rite to trial of some sort.
Yet make it so this person cannot legally drive ever agin on pain of life imprisonment,for a minor breach if any..
often I follow up on these storys,and most often or not the driver is not intoxicated yet committing some illegal action in traffic and causing the fatality..
in some case's it looked like the driver was intentionally tryin to kill the rider or force him off the road or into a hazardous situation resultin in the wreck.had some fool 2 weeks ago try to cut me off and force me into oncoming traffic,the world is full of em so in this case being drunk with that record is over the top I still say throw away the key !!! two murders dont make one rite!!