This is why you need to carry ID with you when you ride.
Yes, every time.
According to the Orange County Register, authorities have struggled to identify a man who was killed riding his bike in Las Flores early this afternoon.
The victim, who investigators believe was in his 30s, was riding on westbound Oso Parkway near Antonio Parkway, between Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita, when he was struck by the driver of a pickup around 1:45 pm Monday.
Sheriff’s deputies found the victim sprawled on Oso Parkway, dead on arrival.
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. He is not suspected of being under the influence.
There’s no word on how the collision may have occurred, though the severity of the crash implies high speed.
A street view shows a three lane virtual freeway with a painted bike lane on the right, where drivers are likely to exceed the posted 55 mph speed limit — making an unprotected lane dangerously inappropriate.
And yet, somehow, an Orange County fire captain blamed the victim for not wearing a helmet, even though a crash at those speeds is unlikely to be survivable, with or without one.
This is at least the 41st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Orange County.
Update: We finally know the identity of the victim, as well as a little more about how the crash happened.
The sister of the victim has identified him on a GoFundMe page as Pablo Valdez, no age or residence given.
According to the description, he was killed when the pickup driver pulled out of a gas station without looking.
Which means I was wrong in assuming that speed was a factor. Although it’s still questionable whether a helmet would have helped in this instance, if Valdez really was run over by the truck as his sister writes.
As of this writing, the GoFundMe page has raised nearly $17,000 of the $20,000 goal.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Pablo Valdez and his loved ones.
Thanks to Kenny Uong for the heads-up.
Photo of Pablo Valdez taken from GoFundMe page
We offer up our prayers for the family and friends of the unidentified victim.
I’ve driven that road more than few times. My sis lives off of Felipe/Oso. Piecing from OC Register article w pics, I determined the exact location of accident. Westbound on Oso, descend down hill, across bridge as you begin slight uphill. There’s a frontage work road w turnout on the right that turns east along north side of bridge and turns below. I would guess the cyclist was killed by right hook. Prolly the cyclist gained speed on steep descent and caught up to truck just as it was making right turn. You can see work truck parked on turnout in pic.
So very sad. This is a scenic suburban OC area and I’ve got a couple of fun easy safe rides nearby on paved and dirt trails. However, I don’t ride on these 55 mph highways, there’s too many distracted drivers at those high speeds for it to be safe. Most cyclists obviously survive their rides, like with their clubs or groups, but the number of deaths is way too high for comfort.
Wow. I was there. Your conjecture is disgusting. The driver wasn’t even pulling out of a gas station, and the bicyclist was going the wrong way.
You were there? Where did the accident happen exactly? What did you witness? From pics off OC Register article and info from bikinginla post, it looked like happened on westbound lane at the turnout of frontage road? Now you’re saying it happened near the gas station? Which is strange cuz the Shell station is on the south side at the corner for eastbound traffic? Although the pics have the police cars and ambulance parked by the turnout?
I’m resisting the temptation to remove your comment, despite the cowardly anonymous comment and fake email address. However, the fact that you’re unwilling to stand behind it with your own name speaks volumes.
So far, the only legitimate information we have on this tragedy comes from the victim’s family, since the press has failed to follow-up on it. If you have any sources to back up your claims, share them. Because under the circumstances, your credibility ain’t worth shit.
Bikinginla, so you heard from victim’s family that the pickup pulled out of gas station without looking? Doesn’t match up w accident scene pic from OC Register article? Cuz only gas station is on SW corner Oso/SAP and if you say he was riding westbound then he was riding salmon? And accident scene pics are further west across the bridge? Nothing adds up?
Unfortunately, that’s what happens when the press fails to follow-up. Your hypothesis may be true. I’m not familiar with the area, so it’s hard for me to go beyond the limited descriptions. However, the GoFundMe page says nothing about his direction of travel, only that the driver failed to look both ways. So it’s entirely possible he could have been riding salmon. I appreciate your insights.
The gas station was a ways away. I still would like to know how this accident happened. My son is friends with the sister.