It isn’t always cars that kill cyclists.
It can be a moment’s inattention, an obstacle in the road, a driver passing too close, or a rider exceeding his or her own ability.
We may never know why Lihsiang Chang fell while riding her bike last Thursday.
All we know is the 54-year old cyclist was riding north in the bike lane on the 11200 block of San Diego’s El Camino Real around 1:45 pm when she somehow lost control of her bike, on what’s described as a steep downhill — even though the road doesn’t look that steep.
She suffered a serious head injury and was placed on life support at a La Jolla hospital. Sadly, Chang was taken off life support yesterday and died around 5 pm.
No other information is available at this time; this is one instance when knowing if she was wearing a helmet might have mattered.
This is the 24th cycling fatality in the seven-county Southern California region this year, and the fifth in San Diego County as they carry over the nearly one-a-month rate of bike deaths from 2011. It’s also the fifth fatal solo collision this year.
My deepest sympathy to Lihsiang’s Chang’s husband and all of her family and loved ones.
