‘It was the worst thing I could see in my life’: Witness recounts crash that killed 5 cyclists

BOULDER CITY, NV (KLAS) — The cyclist community is reacting to news of the deadly crash Sunday morning on US 95 south of Boulder City. Five cyclists were killed in the crash, while three others were injured.

8 News Now spoke to a rider who was in that group. He says he is still trying to understand how this happened.

We were told this group does this ride every single year. It is called the Nipton Loop.

A man who was riding with the group says it got windy and next thing they knew is around 7 bicyclists were stuck between a car that assists the riders and the box truck involved.

Michael Anderson says some of his friends were killed when a box truck crashed into their group, killing 5. They were traveling SB on the 95 near Boulder City. Anderson says they do this ride every year. Today happened to be one of his friend’s birthday. @8NewsNow pic.twitter.com/yk2RcugRHD

— Hector Mejia (@hectormejianews) December 10, 2020

In an emotional interview, Michael Anderson told 8 News Now it was a horrible scene. 

He says trying to contact his friends families has been difficult. 

“I have been a cop for 22 years. I just retired last month from Metro Police and I have seen stuff obviously as a police officer, public service, but when it is your friends, I have never seen that,” Anderson said. “I don’t even know, it was the worst thing I could see in my life. All those trying to contact the families and I don’t even know how to say it to them.” 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 857 bicyclists killed in traffic crashes in the United States in 2018. 

The bicyclist community is tight here in Southern Nevada.  

Our crew stopped by a bike shop where people there were shocked to hear about this. Many say they were texting friends trying to find out who was involved. 

We were told this group was very experienced and they do ride very fast. Other riders we spoke to say riding on highways like this can be scary and dangerous, and it is something you hope never happens.