Bicyclist who was struck by minivan south of Spokane Valley has died
A bicyclist who was hit by a minivan south of Spokane Valley Monday morning has died, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office announced.
The man, whose identity has not been released, was traveling southbound on Dishman Mica Road when at about 8:30 a.m. he was struck by a southbound minivan near Madison Road, according to a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office news release.
The adult male cyclist was transported from the scene to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died Tuesday morning.
A cause of the collision has not yet been determined, said sheriff’s deputy and spokesman Mark Gregory.
“Impairment does not seem to be a factor but they’re looking at inattention, fatigue, that sort of stuff,” Gregory said. “They haven’t come to a conclusion on what actually occurred.”
After hearing of the man’s injuries and subsequent passing on social media, local cycling communities reacted with anxiety and concern, said Marc Mims, and avid bicycler for more than 20 years and leader of a cycling club.
He said that the road the man was traveling when he was hit is a popular cycling destination during the spring and summer, and is generally considered safe.
“Nice wide shoulders, lower-than freeway-speed traffic, and nice clear line of site, especially where that accident occurred,” he said. “There are people out there who are asking me in particular if you’ve got any news or know what happened.”
Mims said accidents in that area are rare, but there was a close call several years ago when a drunken driver almost plowed into about 15 bicyclists heading west on the Palouse Highway near state Highway 27.
“We had a pickup pass us at really high speed that drifted to the right of the fog line and just narrowly missed us,” he said. “And later we found it was a drunk driver who hit several cars along the highway and was finally stopped on the South Hill somewhere.”
Mims said the incident didn’t influence his view that Spokane and Spokane Valley are safe for cyclist.
“I don’t know if we’re significantly safer or significantly less safe than other communities.,” he said. “But in general I think we have a lot of routes that we feel are safe.”