Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau Were Killed by a Driver While Cycling ⇥ defector.com

Lauren Theisen, Defector:

Columbus Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed by a car while biking in Oldmans Township, New Jersey on Thursday night, according to New Jersey State Police. Johnny was 31, and Matthew was 29.

The brothers, originally from New Jersey, were in the area for their sister Katie’s wedding, which was scheduled for Friday. Around 8:00 p.m., police say, the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee hit them from behind while trying to pass an SUV that had made room for the bikers. The driver has been charged with two counts of death by auto, and police suspect that the driver had been drinking.

I am not much of a sports person; I do not really follow hockey. But I knew of Gaudreau as a longtime Calgary Flames player. His death and that of his brother were completely avoidable if this driver had not been drinking, had not attempted to pass so recklessly, or was not driving an SUV.

As Theisen writes, over a thousand cyclists were killed by drivers in 2022 in the United States alone. This is a high-profile tragedy, but not an outlier.