A charity bicycle ride took a tragic turn on May 19. An Oregon man was riding on Highway 18 near Grand Ronde when the bicycle accident occurred. He was riding with other bicyclists in the “Reach the Beach” charity ride. The accident brought the end to a life that was lived on the bicycle, according to the deceased man’s friends. He guessed he had ridden 100,000 miles in the past 28 years.
The avid Oregon bicyclist was hit as he rode by a pickup truck. The truck had veered to the right to avoid traffic. After the bicycle accident, the man was taken to Salem Hospital where he later died. The pickup driver who had caused the fatal bicycle accident was not injured in the collision.
In many cases such as this one, police investigate the crash scene in an effort to determine the official cause of the accident. In those cases, investigators often make an assessment of fault for a death in a collision.
If it is the case that the driver of the pickup is the cause of the accident, he may find that he is liable to the family of the bicyclist for the tragic death. The deceased man was 65 years old and left behind a wife, five children and 25 grandchildren.
Any fatal accident is a tragedy that no family ever hopes to experience. When incidents like this occur, they can shake up the lives of many people — not only emotionally, but financially as well. Medical and funeral costs are expensive, so families of accident victims should know that they may have legal options to seek monetary compensation if a person was deemed negligent in contributing to an accident.
Source: kgw.com, “Bicyclist hit by car was fighting brain cancer,” Jeff Thompson, May 20, 2012
