incident occurred 1/27/2016 ~ 11am. Victim was “crossing” mid-block according to police. Eastern part of city of Mesa; University Drive, between Higley and Greenfield roads.
University Drive, the road the cyclist was attempting to “cross” is a typical high-speed 5 lane arterial.
It’s never completely clear from the descriptions what crossing mid-block means exactly — it should mean away from not only intersections (which was implied by article “There were no crosswalks located in the area”), but also that there the cyclist was not emerging, or entering a driveway (or attempting to).
Bicyclists should be acting as the driver of a vehicle, and therefore should never be “crossing” a road; though of course many do.
UPDATE: FARS lists the crash group and type as Bicyclist Left Turn / Merge, Bicyclist Left Turn – Same Direction.
The location in the data suggests the cyclist was perhaps preparing to turn left into 4th Street. The lane/unit actions/direction listed in asdm data, as is often the case,can’t add up; bicyclist was said to be westbound in a BL; while the motorist was westbound in Lane 1 (the left lane). Also the bicyclist violation is “no improper”; should be improper /unsafe lane change if the indications in FARS are correct.
List of 2009 onward Arizona Bicyclist Fatalities
Mesa police: Bicyclist hit, killed in crash
Kathryn J Woo, The Republic | azcentral.com 12:37 p.m. MST January 28, 2016An elderly man who was riding a bicycle was struck and killed by a vehicle Thursday morning, according to the Mesa Police Department.
The fatal wreck occurred after 11 a.m. on University Drive, between Higley and Greenfield roads.
The bicyclist was attempting to cross University Drive mid-block when he was struck, according to Officer Steve Berry. There were no crosswalks located in the area…