Bicyclist hurt as vehicles collide

A pickup flipped onto its roof at a busy intersection Wednesday after hitting a car and knocking a bicyclist off his bike, shoving him under a parked SUV.

The bicyclist was wearing a helmet but suffered a concussion and back injuries and was taken to a Spokane hospital, police Cpl. Mike Carr said.

The Ford F-150 pickup driver escaped with minor injuries but rattled nerves, and the driver of the second car – an old Pontiac station wagon – was uninjured.

The bicyclist’s injuries were not life-threatening, Sgt. Isamu Yamada said.

Traveling north on Madison Street at about 5:15 p.m., the pickup blew through a stop sign at Sprague Avenue and crashed into the front of the Pontiac, which was traveling west on Sprague, witnesses said.

“He was going so fast that he was flying,” said Mike Marquart, the driver of the Pontiac.

The pickup flipped into the air, and the station wagon spun 180 degrees.

The bicyclist, who was in front of a Chevrolet Blazer parked on Madison, was “caught in the crossfire,” said Cody Chamberlain, a bystander who saw the crash and called 911.

Pauline Wright, who ran to the crash from a block away, said the bicyclist hit the front of the Blazer then was shoved underneath by the pickup, which came to rest on its roof next to the Blazer.

“When I got on the scene he was conscious,” Wright said. “He said that he could breathe and everything but that his lower back hurt, and he could move his legs.”

Authorities gave the bicyclist an IV and assisted him under the Blazer until they could lift it up with airbags to remove him. They didn’t want to risk injuring him further by pulling on his limbs, Carr said.

Paramedics lifted the bicyclist on his side onto a stretcher and took him away by ambulance. His name and condition were unavailable.

During the aftermath of the crash, Carr said the pickup driver seemed to have only failed to yield and had not been negligent. Without negligence or recklessness, the driver would not be charged with vehicular assault, he said.

“It looks like a fairly low-speed impact,” Carr said as he surveyed the damage.

The Pontiac’s front end was heavily damaged, and glass from the pickup littered the intersection.

The Blazer had a dented hood and cracked windshield.