Update: Bike rider killed in Rancho Mirage; driver may have drifted into bike lane

More bad news today.

According to KESQ-3, a man was killed in a collision while riding his bike in Rancho Mirage this morning.

The victim, identified only as an adult man, was struck near the intersection of Bob Hope Drive and Ginger Rodgers at 10:13 am.

He died at the scene.

The driver stopped after the crash, and was cooperating with investigators. Police do not think drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.

The Desert Sun reports the crash occurred on a relatively desolate stretch of northbound Bob Hope Drive. The victim was found several feet from his bike, with a heavily damaged utility truck stopped nearby.

A street view shows two wide, straight traffic lanes in each direction on Bob Hope, with a 50 mph speed limit, and an unprotected gutter bike lane on each side.

According to KMIR-TV, the driver may have drifted into the bike lane.

This is at least the 14th bicycling fatality in Southern California, and the second in Riverside County.

Update: The victim has been identified as 74-year old Victoria, British Colombia, resident Peter Harvey.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Peter Harvey and his loved ones. 

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up. 

9 comments

  1. David says:

    There was a bike lane.

    The truck had a lot of damage leading me to conclude that the driver was going fast.

    Unless the bicycle veered out of the bike lane, it seems as if the truck driver was at fault.

    What else can you conclude?

  2. JJD says:

    Our prayers go up for the family and friends of the victim.

  3. William Robison says:

    50 MPH Speed limit, absurd. Traffic light controlled street, road, or highway should have a maximum speed of 35 MPH or less. The same goes for and any road, street, or highway within city/town limits.

    • Michelle Mowery says:

      California Vehicle Code

      DIVISION 11. RULES OF THE ROAD [21000 – 23336] ( Division 11 enacted by Stats. 1959, Ch. 3. )

      CHAPTER 2. Traffic Signs, Signals, and Markings [21350 – 21468] ( Chapter 2 enacted by Stats. 1959, Ch. 3. )

      21400. (b) The Department of Transportation shall revise the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, as it read on January 1, 2012, to require the Department of Transportation or a local authority to round speed limits to the nearest five miles per hour of the 85th percentile of the free-flowing traffic. However, in cases in which the speed limit needs to be rounded up to the nearest five miles per hour increment of the 85th-percentile speed, the Department of Transportation or a local authority may decide to instead round down the speed limit to the lower five miles per hour increment, but then the Department of Transportation or a local authority shall not reduce the speed limit any further for any reason.

      • This rule has ratchet-up effect on speed limits. Because of that, I have begun to strictly adhere to the posted speed limit while driving. No more “cheating” by going 5 or 10 mph over. When I’m passed like I’m standing still it’s a little scary, but I feel like I’m making my tiny contribution toward keeping the speed limits from creeping up.

  4. Update, the victim was a snowbird, 74-year-old Peter Harvey, of Victoria, B.C, very sad. This location — Rancho Mirage– and Indian Wells are the cities standing in the way of the 50-mile funded CV Link state of the art multi-use trail along Whitewater Channel that will enable road cyclists to get a safe workout in this region. The first 2.3 miles recently opened east of PSP Airport in Cathedral City with much fanfare, but the rest won’t be done for quite some time. A cyclists’ boycott of Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells is called “No Bikes No Bucks.” Now road cyclists with a need for speed must ride in the 50-60 mph arterials, most of which have bike lanes, but you can see how unsafe that it is, just one distracted moment of a motorist at that speed (or above) and this is what happens. I spend a lot of time in this area and never ride on those high speed roads. But then I am the “Easy Scenic Cyclist” (15 mph and under) and enjoy the fabulous system of wide landscaped sidewalk bike trails throughout this part of the Coachella Valley that I have mapped out. I get some nasty looks from cyclists cruising by in the bike lanes, but I’d rather be un-cool than un-alive.

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