Collision with motor vehicle at 1470 Lopez Sound Rd
Date:
2009-07-26
Crash type:
Collision with motor vehicle
Geometry:
Vehicle swerved into bike path
Vehicle type:
Car
Description:
A 15 year-old without a license was driving a 1974 Chevrolet Nova at over 120 miles per hour on Lopez Sound Road - a narrow two-lane road with no shoulders, no center or fog lines, and a posted 35 mph speed limit. There are numerous driveways along the road. The road is advertised as a bike route on internet web sites and the Tour de Lopez, a yearly bicycling event, includes Lopez Sound Road. It was the middle of the vacation season and many tourists and visitors were on the island.
The driver lost control of the car and swerved into a family of cyclists, maiming a seven year-old girl riding a Trail-a-bike attached to her father's bike, narrowly missing the mother and a younger sibling. Sadly, a jogger just behind the cyclists was killed instantly. Due to the excessive speed and incompetence of the driver, neither the cyclists nor the jogger had time to react once the vehicle was in sight. Add note to this report
The driver lost control of the car and swerved into a family of cyclists, maiming a seven year-old girl riding a Trail-a-bike attached to her father's bike, narrowly missing the mother and a younger sibling. Sadly, a jogger just behind the cyclists was killed instantly. Due to the excessive speed and incompetence of the driver, neither the cyclists nor the jogger had time to react once the vehicle was in sight. Add note to this report
Factors & Lessons
Factor:
Driver not looking for cyclist
Factor:
Excessive driver speed
Factor:
Inexperienced driver
Factor:
Road unsafe for bikes
Lesson:
Cyclists should avoid Lopez Island
Explanation:
The island's scenic roads manual prohibits paved shoulders. The roads are narrow and despite bike route markers, the Superior Court of Washington pronounced Lopez Sound Road as unsafe.
Conditions
Weather:
Clear
Lighting:
Daytime
Visibility:
Good
Using bike lights:
Yes
Wearing helmet:
Yes
Road conditions:
Dry
Traffic:
Light
Additional conditions description:
Marked as a bike route, the rural road has no shoulder and has a history of speeding motorists. The road, according to the Superior Court of Washington, should not be marked as a bike safe route.
Cyclist
Cyclist age:
41
Cyclist gender:
M
Cyclist experience:
Expert
Bicycle type:
Tandem
Injuries:
Fatal
Injury description:
A jogger was killed. A seven year-old cyclist attached to her father's bike on a Trail-a-Bike was seriously injured. A passenger in the car was also seriously injured.
Location
Location type:
Secondary
Location description:
Marked as a bike route, the rural road has no shoulder and has a history of speeding motorists. The road, according to the Superior Court of Washington, should not be marked as a bike safe route.
Location:
1470 Lopez Sound Rd, Lopez Island, WA 98261, USA
Lat/Lng:
48.4989372859037, -122.877268195152
Crash ID:
338
