A teen-age bicycle rider was struck by a car and killed as he participated in a Canada-based charity bicycle ride bypassing Arlington in Snohomish County this weekend.
Canadian cyclist dies
Police reported that the 16-year-old from Victoria, BC, tried to pass cyclists riding in a pack on a narrow road with no shoulder, lost control of his bike and fell. He was struck by a car in the oncoming lane shortly after 9 a.m. on Sunday.
(He was later identified as Xavier Pelletier.)
According to CTV News:
The driver of the oncoming car was unable to swerve out of the way and struck the teen, while hundreds of cyclists witnessed the gruesome collision.
“He was just lying face up, everyone, the paramedics had given up, and they’re just looking at him in horror, just like, ‘I can’t believe this happened,’” one rider told CTV News.
The collision occurred on Smokey Point Boulevard near 204th Street Northeast, a couple of miles west of Arlington. The motorist was driving below the posted speed limit and could not avoid the fallen cyclist.
One witness told the Global News that as a group of cyclists was heading south, the front rider said “car coming.” But not enough people in the group repeated the warning and the teen tried to get around, hit a wheel, and then went down.
The teen was participating in the charity ride with his mother and uncle.
Some 2,600 cyclists joined the Ride to Conquer Cancer charity ride that started in Vancouver, BC, on Saturday and finished in Redmond on Sunday. The ride, celebrating its fifth anniversary, raised $10.4 million for the BC Cancer Foundation.
“To lose one of our riders in doing something that they worked very hard to do is incredibly tragic and we’re all deeply saddened,” Erik Dierks of the BC Cancer Foundation told the Globe and Mail.
Maine fatality
Another cyclist on a charity bike ride was struck and killed by a truck on Friday in Maine.
David LeClair 23, of Watertown, Mass., died on U.S. Route 2 in Hanover, Maine, during the three-day Trek Across Maine, benefiting the American Lung Association. He was riding with a team of 140 co-workers from athenahealth.
A man driving a truck that matched the suspect vehicle was stopped later. He said he knew nothing about the fatality, and police are trying to figure out the details in the case.
Our condolences to the friends and family of this fallen cyclists who died in these charity events.
Recent Comments