Sometimes, our worst fears are realized.
That was the case last week, as the Orange County Register made a brief mention of a bicyclist who critically injured when he was struck from behind while riding in a Huntington Beach bike lane.
Sadly, they announced today that he did not survive his injuries.
The 29-year old victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding east on Warner Avenue at Springdale Street at 5:27 pm Tuesday when a driver veered into the bike lane and struck him from behind.
He was taken to UCI Medical Center, where he died on Saturday, four days after he was injured.
The driver remained at the scene, and police do not suspect drugs or alcohol use. No word on why he moved into the bike lane where the victim was riding; however, since the wreck occurred at or near the intersection, he may have been making a right turn.
A street view shows a typical six lane Orange County street with a center turn lane, and wide lanes built for excessive speed.
This is the 60th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th in Orange County; that compares with 74 in SoCal and 16 in the county this time last year.
It’s also the third bicycling death in Huntington Beach this year, and the eighth in just the last two years.
Update: A comment below from Bill Selin caused me to go back and check my records, revealing two errors.
One was the Garden Grove death of Suzy Ramage and her dog, which had been mistakenly categorized as Los Angeles County, rather than OC. The other was an unknown rider also killed in Garden Grove a few weeks later, which I had neglected to add to my database.
As a result, I have corrected the totals above to reflect one additional fatality in Southern California, and two in Orange County.
I apologize for the error.
Update 2: A gofundme account has been set up for the victim. I’m told that his name won’t be officially released until his parents can arrive here from Mexico to identify the body.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
