Car Strikes and Kills Cyclist on County Road 15 at County Road 10 in Elkhart, Indiana (IN)

ELKHART, IL- Wndu.com writes that a cyclist died in a crash in Elkhart County this week in the late afternoon. The incident happened at the intersection of County Road 15 and County Road 10 when a teenage driver in a Volkswagen Jetta traveling on County Road 10 struck the cyclist who was turning off of County Road 15.*

The cyclist, identified as a 24-year-old man from Jacksonville, Florida, was rushed to a local hospital where he died from his injuries a brief while later. The deadly crash remains under investigation, and it is not yet clear whether the seventeen-year-old driver was ticketed in the collision. 

Cyclist crashes kill hundreds of people in the United States each year. Luckily, these types of crashes declined in 2019. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that most categories of crash-fatalities declined last year, and that cyclist deaths dropped three percent. Pedestrian fatalities also dropped by two percent, and motorcycle deaths dropped one percent, while passengers and drivers saw a decline of three and four percent, respectively. 

Statistics indicate that 36,120 people were killed in vehicle crashes last year, which overall was a drop of 1.2 percent as compared to 2018. The data is still relatively new, and it is not yet clear why these types of crashes trended slightly down. 

It is important that motorists practice defensive driving when they are around cyclists. Taking risks like speeding and passing too close to a bike will place cyclists at risk. When backing up, drivers should exercise caution and look out for bikes behind then. Cyclists are also able to travel at fairly high speeds. Drivers should not underestimate how fast a bike is approaching. 

Accident News is a safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes.  To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com - click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or a family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.

Sources:

https://www.wndu.com/2020/09/06/bicyclist-dead-after-getting-struck-by-car-in-elkhart-county/

https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/early-estimates-traffic-fatalities-2019#:~:text=A%20statistical%20projection%20of%20traffic,in%20motor%20vehicle%20traffic%20crashes.&text=This%20new%20data%20also%20shows,traffic%2Drelated%20fatalities%20in%202019.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/bicycle-safety#:~:text=Wear%20equipment%20to%20protect%20you,or%20when%20visibility%20is%20poor).