Once again, someone has been killed trying to ride a bicycle on a Southern California freeway.
According to the Long Beach Post, a 39-year old man was riding a bicycle in the auxiliary lane of the northbound 405 Freeway in Long Beach around 10 pm on Friday.
As he approached Woodruff Ave, he was struck by a car driven by an 83-year-old Long Beach man.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Long Beach Report explains that the auxiliary lane is added to a freeway to allow drivers to speed up or slow down to get on or off.
There’s no word on why the victim was riding on a limited-access highway where bicycles are prohibited, and the driver would have no reason to expect one. And no word on whether the victim had lights on his bike, although the freeway itself should have been lighted.
This is at least the 50th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 22nd that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. It’s also the fifth bicyclist killed in Long Beach this year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.
deva & i were friends… he was recently at my house in moab. he wasn’t a good cyclist; I tried. what was he doing out there at night? cars r coffins.
I bet he had no helmet or lights.
Can’t say if he had lights or not. That is just conjecture on your part. However if you are hit by a car at near freeway speed by a car a helmet won’t help you.
We offer up our prayers for the family and friends of the victim.