Word is just coming in that a young bike rider was killed in a Rialto collision this evening, the fourth SoCal cyclist to die in the last three days.
According to the Press-Enterprise, the collision occurred around 5:40 Monday evening near the intersection of Riverside Avenue and South Street; police found the victim on the sidewalk in front of 335 S. Riverside Ave.
He was unresponsive and suffering from major injuries when police arrived, and died after being taken to a local hospital.
The paper identifies the victim only as a juvenile Hispanic male; other sources that aren’t available online yet give his age as 13.
The paper reports the driver remained on the scene and is cooperating with investigators; alcohol is not believed to be a factor. Which could mean that the driver was sober, or had not consumed enough to be intoxicated.
No other information is available at this time, and no word on how the collision occurred.
This is the 85th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th in San Bernardino County. It’s also the first cycling death in Rialto in the last four years.
And hopefully the last.
Update: The victim has been identified as 16-year old Ryan J. Martinez of Rialto.
According to the Press-Enterprise, Martinez was riding near his father’s home on a new bike he’d just gotten for Christmas. He was reportedly going the wrong way on Riverside when he was hit head-on by a northbound car.
He died one day after his mother’s birthday.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the Ryan Martinez and his family and friends.
