Heartbreaking news from Huntington Beach, where a man was killed and his elderly wife seriously injured when a driver slammed into their tandem bike Sunday morning.
According to My News LA, the victims, who have not been publicly identified, were riding near near Magnolia Street and Hamilton Avenue when they were run down around 8:50 am.
The Orange County Tribune reports both people were taken to a local hospital, where the 74-year old man died from his injuries; his 82-year old wife was hospitalized, but is expected to survive.
According to investigators, they were apparently riding north on Magnolia when they were struck by a 30-year old woman driving her SUV west on Hamilton.
She remained at the scene, and police did not suspect drug or alcohol use.
A street view shows a five lane intersection controlled by a traffic signal, with a 45 mph speed limit, and bike lanes in both directions on Magnolia.
Anyone with information is urged to call Huntington Beach Police Traffic Investigators D. Demetre at 714/536-5670, or V. Rattanchandani at 714/536-5231.
This is at least the 40th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Orange County.
It’s also the second bicycling death Huntington Beach in less than three months.
Update: The fatal victim has been identified as 74-year old Huntington Beach resident Clinton Silverman.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Clinton Silverman, his wife and all their loved ones.
What a sad story, the active elderly couple probably heading to their parked car or home after a beautiful safe ride on the Huntington Beach trail. One of the parties must have gone through a red light. Intersections are so dangerous.
It’s possible for a bike to enter on a green light but still be in the intersection when the signal changes to green for the other direction. Still a terrible thing for the victims.
I often suspect that’s the problem in some crashes like this, especially with older victims.