A bicycle accident resulted in the death of a North Carolina man on June 16. Police detained a 38-year-old man who they suspect was the negligent party in the accident and charged him with one count of felony hit-and-run. A judge ordered that the man be held on $75,000 bond.
The accident occurred around 5:30 p.m. in Statesville when the 53-year-old man was riding his bicycle on Barry Oak Road between Longview Road and Barnhill Road. The cyclist was in a sharp curve when he was struck by a Ford pickup truck. The driver then fled the scene of the crash.
No witnesses saw the accident, but police were able to find the alleged driver through the investigation and crash reconstruction. Evidence gathered at the scene indicated that the vehicle that struck the cyclist was a model year 2011 to 2014 Ford pickup truck. The suspected driver lives about one mile away from where the accident took place and owns a truck matching that description. North Carolina Highway Patrol officers arrested him around 9 p.m. on June 17.
Victims of fatal bicycle accidents sometimes leave behind spouses and children to whom they provided care and support in life. The loss of a loved one may leave the deceased’s family in need of other sources of child or elder care or other services even as they struggle to pay for burial costs and other expenses incurred because of the accident. Personal injury attorneys could assist accident victims’ families who wish to file wrongful death lawsuits or advise them of their legal options when hit-and-run drivers cannot be found.
Source: Salisbury Post, ‘Family, friends mourn former Grease Monkey owner killed on bike,” Shavonne Potts, June 18, 2014
Source: WSOCTV, “Arrest made in hit-and-run that killed bicyclist“, Tina Terry, June 18, 2014