It’s been a bad several days for Inland bike riders.
According to the Press-Enterprise, 47-year old Riverside resident Aristeo Vallardares was hit from behind while riding on the 5900 block of Limonite Avenue in Jurupa Valley at 7:31 pm. Witnesses performed CPR until paramedics arrived and transported Vallardares to Riverside Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 8 pm.
The satellite view shows a wide, divided roadway with little or no shoulder — exactly the sort of road that forces riders to compete for space with high-speed traffic.
Yet once again, there’s no word on how the collision occurred, other than it was a rear-end collision — a pattern that seems to be common in Riverside and San Bernardino County bicycling deaths.
There’s no mention on whether he was using lights, or why the driver failed to see a bike rider who was apparently on the road directly in front of him.
And as usual, no mention of who the victim was beyond the most meagre description. No word on what he did for a living, whether he had a family or if there is anyone besides his fellow bicyclists to morn his death.
This is the 71st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, one more than last year’s already too high total. It’s the 13th cycling death in Riverside County, two above the total for last year.
And Vallarades is the third rider to die in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in just the last five days, and the 4th killed in Southern California in the past 10 days.
My deepest condolences for Vallarades and all his family and loved ones.
