Always wait for the barriers to lift at a railroad crossing.
A Riverside bike rider didn’t, and sadly, paid the price.
According to the Press-Enterprise, the woman was riding her bike east on Mission Inn Ave in downtown Riverside when she stopped to wait for a southbound train around 11:10 this morning.
As soon as the train passed, she continued across the tracks while the crossing arms were reportedly still down and the warning lights flashing. She was then hit and killed by a train traveling north on the tracks, whose approach would have been hidden from sight by the other train.
The victim is identified only as an apparent transient in her 30s.
This is the 20th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in Riverside County. That compares to 41 in SoCal this time last year, and six in the county.
She is also the first bike rider to be killed in a collision with a train anywhere in Southern California since August of last year.
Update: The Press-Enterprise has identified the victim as 31-year old Virginia Gadberry of Riverside.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Virginia Gadberry and her loved ones.
