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Pollença Mallorca (CC BY-SA 4.0/Matthias Süßen)Mallorca motorcyclist under influence of drugs who killed cyclist after hitting group ride head-on released with charges
A Polish cyclist on holiday in Mallorca has died after a motorcyclist, who later tested positive for drugs, lost control of his Harley-Davidson and smashed into a group ride. The motorcyclist has since been arrested and released with charges (under investigation) according to local media.
The incident happened on Friday at around 3.15pm on the Serra Tramuntana road near Pollença in the north of the island — the town a popular base for riders visiting on cycling trips — and saw two riders suffer injuries and one rider, now named as Lesiak Andrzej Zbigniew, killed after the motorcyclist crossed into the wrong lane, causing a head-on collision.
Both the motorcyclist and the worst injured of the three cyclists were rushed to hospital, the bicycle rider at the time in a critical state but later dying as a result of his injuries.
The motorcyclist, a 62-year-old Spaniard as reported by Mallorca Diario, tested positive for drugs and was arrested on suspicion of reckless homicide and driving a vehicle under the influence of drugs. He has since been released on bail by a court in Inca, Majorca Daily Bulletin reports.
In 2018, a group of nine German cyclists were hit by the driver of a Porsche who later tested positive for cannabis. Christoph Bohnen, a 47-year-old from Bavaria, lost his life in the shocking collision, the driver Anais Marco had already been facing a driving ban for drug driving.
"I'm not a drug addict who goes out on the road to kill eight people," she said at the time. "When I was going to overtake, they were two in two, but suddenly four went in parallel, occupying almost the entire lane. Suddenly I see that I am on top of the cyclists and hit the brakes."
She also said that the sun had blinded her and that it was when she put her visor down that she hit them.
In 2016, a Scottish cyclist died following a collision with the driver of a lorry at a roundabout between Alcudia and Puerto Alcudia. Father-of-two Graeme McGilvray was on an annual trip to the Mediterranean island with the Lomond Roads Cycling Club when the tragic incident happened.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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13 comments
I follow Thames Valley Police on social media and am horrified at the number of people they find drug-driving with roadside tests.
Was recently very close passed by a couple with balloons full of NO2 on their laps. Had a chat with them later at the lights and they were unable to speak coherently. TVP prosecuted them.
Driving should be considered a privilege - to be withdrawn if abused, sometimes permanently.
I know this isn't the UK, but they really need to get tough on drug driving. There seems to be a prevalence people who think it is OK. On numerous occasions I have followed drivers with a stink of weed coming from their vehicle.
There's the recent incident of French comedian Pierre Palmade causing a horrible road collision driving under the influence of cocaine.
I was close passed at high speed by a wildly veering bmw on saturday with said stink of weed... very windy a road with no overtaking in many areas. seems to be de rigour now - although all the local bobbies were probably busy nicking people with bits of string down that London.
I've been driving behind cars more than once and had to shut the vents as the stench was coming in! It really needs be an instant and lengthy ban with no exceptions.
I smell weed coming from car windows once on nearly every commute. Every commute! Who is smoking weed at half past seven in the morning on their way to work...?
The really worrying thing, apart from the driving danger, is that in my experience the majority of vehicles from which weed smoke is coming seem to be trades, plumbers, bricklayers, electricians etc, so these people are getting blitzed in the morning then going to work in high-risk environments installing equipment which could cause catastrophic results if poorly fitted, i.e. by somebody who is stoned. I have thought for a while that if I ran a sizable building project I would introduce random drink and drug testing for workers in the morning, assuming that's legal.
The situation over there is more complicated as I think personal use of weed is allowed. Then people go on the roads...
Spanish law is fairly strict in fact, simply having enough cannabis in the bloodstream to fail a saliva test is a €1000 fine and six points on your licence (they have a 12 point system the same as we do), if it is shown that your driving was impaired by cannabis the penalties are higher, up to and including jail time.
Condolences to the family and the first responders who had to deal with the Incident.
Compared to most sports bikes or road cycles the typical Harley Davidson has a limited quick turn (weight) or lean angle (engine gearbox size) so a very circumspect approach to cornering challenges is essential. Modern HD have sprung foot pegs so it's pretty obvious when limits are near.
However single vehicle incidents are usually more about skills and experience limits. No evidence that the cyclists were out of position so this incident is much like a single vehicle incident.
A typical sports bike is between 130 and 220kg with cruiser designs half as much again especially when adorned with chrome and leather accessories.
Factoring in mass and speed the kinetic energy would approach a small car.
Sad to learn of this terrible incident. I have cycled that area and the local drivers were generally very careful. Condolences to the victims, their friends and loved ones.
It happened coming down from the garage from Lluc. I had ridden up the climb earlier in the day so didn't see it or the aftermath but the news filled me with sadness.