Sad story on the local news

[bambu101]

This is a rather bizarre story on our local news website. I find it troubling because the mouse element seems to be the main focus of the story, and not the fact that someone lost their life.

Rest in peace, Ronald.

Bicyclist Found Dead in Buckland
BUCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) A Florence man is dead after suffering severe injuries when he crashed his bicycle on a rural road, but it's what caused the crashed that is puzzling police. 43-year-old Ronald Koester was found lying on the side of the road Thursday afternoon by an off duty police officer. And next to the man, was a dead mouse. This all happened at the intersection of Avery and Charlemont Roads in Buckland. The man was found 40 feet from the intersection by an off duty Shelburne Falls officer around noon. First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris told 22News, the mouse was found freshly deceased in close proximity to the bicycle. The man's death has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner. Koester apparently went over his handlebars, hitting his head on the ground and smashing his helmet. There has been speculation that Koester was attempting to avoid hitting the mouse, causing him to lose control, although that has not been the confirmed cause. There were no skid marks found at the scene, and there is no sign of foul play.

[mimitabby]

I wonder why they didn't autopsy the mouse?

[Bikingmomof3]

How dreadful!

[mary9761]

So sad, I feel for him and his family.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

If it was at an intersection then I suspect a car was involved somehow...
and why would the cyclist be going fast enough at an intersection to be killed when he flew off his bike.

[mimitabby]

If it was at an intersection then I suspect a car was involved somehow...
and why would the cyclist be going fast enough at an intersection to be killed when he flew off his bike.

40 feet from the intersection. no skid marks. so odd.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

It is strange.
Of course it's common to see dead animals of all kinds on the shoulder of the road, so the mouse might have had nothing to do with the accident. Also, it says the mouse was found next to the bike. Now, if you were riding fast enough to be violently thrown over your handlebars when you brake hard, do you think your bike would stop moving abruptly enough to wind up right next to the mouse that you were trying to avoid hitting?
I see so many dead animals on the road and the side of the road when I ride, I can't help but think that this dead mouse was simply there coincidentally. They sure were quick to rule the whole thing accidental death- would it also be accidental if someone cut in front of this guy in their car and he slammed on his brakes and flew over his handlebars?

[Geonz]

I would **hope** ... but not be certain or even particularly confident... that they looked for things like skid marks or something about the bike as well as the surroundings to indicate waht happened.

We had a cyclist found off the road, who died from his injuries without waking up to explain them, but there was a road in bad shape and a ditch involved, at least.

The prevailing attitude of folks is, unfortunately, that it's not worth trying to figure out what happened; it was just "an unfortunate accident." That's the attitude here, even when they *know* who caused it and how (our ringtone-downloading driver). Gosh, too bad it happened... (implication: wasn't anything anybody should have done!)

[7rider]

I don't think they're saying he slammed on the brakes and went over the handle bars. I think he picked the mouse up in the front wheel, the mouse caught in the fork, stopping the bike cold, and THAT pitched the poor man over the handlebars. Don't know what the mouse looked like that made it obviously "freshly dead." I can't see a mouse doing that however. A squirrel...maybe. But, geez, a mouse is tiny. I got pitched over the handlebars once by a stick that did just what I described. The stick was about as big as a magic marker.
Of course, all of this doesn't alter the tragic events. And worse, it will have helmet naysayers saying "See???? Helmets don't always help!"

[mimitabby]

You can be sure that there will be a thorough investigation. We might not hear about it and the news might not either. but there is all sorts of insurance stuff that will require an investigation.

[Crankin]

I think Regina's explanation is right! My husband hit a squirrel a few years ago, on a descent. It broke his carbon fork (on one side, only, thankfully) and sent him flying. He did NOT try to avoid it, as he saw it would be useless. He only had road rash, etc, but the bike was a wreck.