A woman was transported to the hospital with injuries requiring surgery after a teen, on his way to Mountain Pointe High School Thursday morning, struck her while making a right turn at Elliot Road and 48th Street, according to the Phoenix police.
“He didn’t signal or anything; he just turned in front of us,” said Steve Donaldson, who was riding in the group of bicyclists traveling south on 48th Street around 7:30 a.m. when the crash occurred.
Sgt. Chris Scranton said the student in Thursday’s crash was cited for making an unsafe turn.
The victim had a shattered thumb and a possible broken back, according to Donaldson.
“The kid said he was sorry – but that doesn’t cut it,” said Donaldson, a former 2003 USA Track and Field 400-meter national champion. Last year, he formed the Cyclists Against Reckless Drivers Foundation (CyclistAgainstRecklessDrivers.org) to help in this sort of crisis.
He also plans to help lobby for stiffer penalties when it comes to vehicles crashing into bicyclists.
“The only law existing for cyclists is the 3-foot law,” which Donaldson said, requires motorists, when overtaking and passing a bicyclists, to give the rider at least a 3-foot safety margin, or face up to a $500 fine.
Donaldson said the bicyclists had discussed defensive riding that morning and that he was wearing a fluorescent green ‘Share the road’ jersey when the crash occurred.
