HEMET: Distracted bicyclist hit by truck, hospitalized
HEMET — A woman was hospitalized after she reportedly rode her bicycle into the street and was hit by a pickup truck, Friday evening, Mar. 9. The woman reportedly suffered minor to moderate injuries and is expected to make a full recovery.
Paramedics begin treating a bicyclist who was struck while crossing the intersection of Florida and Lyon Avenues, as firefighters arrive at the scene. John Strangis/Eye News Media
City of Hemet Police and Fire personnel along with other emergency first responders were dispatched to the intersection of Lyon and Florida Avenues in Hemet just after 10:30 p.m., after multiple witnesses called 911 to report the collision.
According to official radio traffic at the time the victim was laying in the roadway near Walgreen’s parking lot and was unresponsive.
Officials began arriving within minutes of the dispatched call and found a grey Ford F150 in the intersection on top of a bicycle that was lodge underneath it. Officers and paramedics found the victim in the road at the corner of the intersection. She was reportedly alert and responsive, but in pain.
AMR medics eventually transported the victim to Hemet Valley Hospital for further evaluation and treatment. There have been no updates regarding the nature or extent of the victim’s injuries
According to witnesses at the scene the bicyclist was in a marked crosswalk when she was hit by the pickup truck that had been making a right turn onto Florida from Lyon. Despite being in a crosswalk, multiple witnesses told authorities it appeared the woman entered the intersection and began crossing against a red light.
Jody Milner of Anza later explained in an online interview that she was sitting at a red light at the intersection waiting for the light to change when she saw the accident happen.
“The woman…it looked like she was distracted or not paying attention and just as the truck went to make the right-hand turn at the light, she just rode right out in front of it,” Milner explained.
“As the woman was knocked from her bike I briefly lost sight of her and when I saw the bike go under the trucks tires I thought for sure I just witnessed her die,” said Milner. “My (9-year-old) daughter started screaming hysterically and was crying. It was just awful.”
A bicyclist was fortunate to escape major injury after she was hit by a pickup truck last night in Hemet. John Strangis/Eye News Media
“I just don’t understand pedestrians in this Valley,” Milner lamented. “I have never seen so many pedestrians being run over in my life.
Jolene Jackson, who said she did not see the actual collision but was one of several people who stopped to try to render aid to the injured woman later explained last night’s vehicle versus pedestrian accident was the second one she stopped at in as many months.
“Sure, people drive too fast and way too reckless, but again and again these accidents are caused by the pedestrians themselves who refuse to use crosswalks,” said Jackson. “Or when they do use the crosswalk, they have no regard for their own safety and I see them all the time crossing against red lights.”
The driver of the pickup truck remained at the scene and was reportedly cooperating with Hemet PD’s collision investigation, which is ongoing.
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Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 27 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 14 grandchildren.