NE 171st St at 143 Pl NE will be closed for KCSO investigation for a car vs cyclist fatality. pic.twitter.com/fd75wOThf6
— Woodinville Fire (@WoodinvilleFire) July 27, 2020
Someone driving turned left in front of a person biking in Woodinville Monday morning, striking and killing him.
Our condolences to his friends and family.
The person biking was a Woodinville man in his 40s on an e-bike, according to the King County Sheriff’s Department. He was headed westbound downhill on the wooded and winding NE 171st Street when a person driving, also from Woodinville, was headed eastbound. The person driving failed to yield when turning left onto 143rd Place NE directly in front the person biking, who collided with the side of the car. The person driving told police he didn’t see the victim, possibly in part due to glare from the sun. The collision happened around 9:50 a.m.
An investigation is ongoing, though the Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said they did not yet see signs of a criminal infraction.
Sun glare is often claimed as a factor in collisions, and while it is a real challenge it is not an excuse. People driving are still responsible for their vehicles regardless of visual conditions. When dealing with sun glare, people driving must slow down and be that much more aware and cautious. Life can change so suddenly, and cars are so deadly.
Again, our condolences to the victim’s loved ones.
Comments
11 responses to “Person biking struck and killed in Woodinville”
My condolences to the family and friends of this cyclist. Be careful everyone. If you see a car turning left in front you, just assume they do not see you because a lot of times they don’t. Thanks Tom for the good work.
So was the driver not arrested for manslaughter? Why are biker murderers treated with kid gloves?
Moving your 2 ton piece of metal when you can’t see where you are going is not an “accident”, at a minimum it’s negligence. I’m sure the driver didn’t intend to kill the cyclist, but that doesn’t absolve him of responsibility.
I feel like you lack an understanding of how easy it is for accidents like this to happen you can be as careful as possible and still not always see everything. They was no negative intent and no reckless negligence just a visual impairment that made it appear there was no cyclist… as someone who used to bike… bikers in general need to also be way more careful upon entering intersections and turn offs because they often do not look much at all…
The main prereq for making a left turn on two-way street is making sure there is no oncoming traffic. If you turn into oncoming traffic, you are negligent. Period.
And don’t even try to blame the biker in this scenario – they had the complete right of way.
Yeah, totally victim shaming here. An oncoming driver suddenly turns directly into you is not something you can easily avoid or be prepared for.
Seems like a huge case of negligence
Please define what “careful of possible” is for a cyclist approaching and entering every intersection? And where do you get this “they do not look much at all” canard? What’s a visual impairment? A visual impairment means you don’t turn. Gross negligence. Every knows you don’t cross an intersection if you can’t see what’s coming.
Haili; You seem to have some oddly specific information about the situation, I’m not a lawyer, but I suspect your lawyer would prefer you shut up. Going on public forums and trying (poorly) to make excuses is probably not a good idea.
“The lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client”
While failure to yield is just an infraction, not a “crime” (I don’t really know the difference, but one is just a ticket, you are not going to prison) You are still civilly responsible. Admitting that you were driving with a visual impairment is not going to look good in court. I imagine the plaintiffs (the family of the deceased) lawyer will claim that that IS reckless negligence (or lawyer words to that effect)..
Also “they often do not look much at all” sounds a bit like projection
If you can’t see what’s in front of you, it is your duty as a driver to slow down. I’ve done this many times, occasionally annoying some impatient drivers behind me, but I believe it is better to be safe than sorry.
Fact is, a car is a deadly weapon, and should be used with appropriate caution. In many ways, zooming ahead in a car without seeing what’s in front of you is like firing a gun without looking at where you’re shooting. Both are extremely dangerous.
I had a fellow cyclist friend Jose Hernando die because the driver turned in front on him and magically responded with the “I didn’t see him” autonomic human excuse response. If you can’t see don’t turn. Little accountability for horrible driving.
I ride my bike up and down that hill often and am acutely aware of what can happen going westbound downhill at a high rate of speed. Such a nice descent. I recently started using a front headlight when I ride during the daytime which can alert drivers that a cyclist is approaching. I totally hope the driver is prosecuted to the full extent of the law and publicly announced to make more weapons of mass destruction drivers aware of the consequences for not respecting cyclists right of way and to have patience and SLOW DOWN when passing or turning. As more people discover the joys of cycling my hope is that more motorists will be more aware of and respect the rights of cyclists to use the roadways. My condolences to the victims family