ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A bike rider was critically injured Friday evening when he was struck by an S.U.V.
Anchorage Police spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker says 55-year-old Joe Orr was riding his bike on the sidewalk, south-bound on the east side of Muldoon Rd. when he was hit.
Parker says Vasiliska Snegirev, 42, had stopped at the Muldoon Rd.-Peck St. intersection. As she was making a right turn Snegirev reportedly struck him with her Chevy S.U.V.
"The bicycle came in front of him, actually got caught underneath him and he had to be extricated by the fire department, who happened to be en-route to another call but got here very quickly," Parker says.
The crash badly injured Orr's legs and chest and, according to Parker, his condition remained 'critical but guarded' Saturday.
Parker did not know if the cyclist was taking part in "Bike to Work Day".
The crash remains under investigation, and Anchorage Police have not assigned blame in the accident.
Lt. Parker told reporters at the scene, "We all understand that it's very dangerous when you come to the intersections, especially if you're riding on the sidewalk because people, when they come to the intersection, people will look for traffic oncoming but they are not necessarily going to look for a bicycle oncoming. Coming up to an intersection, just because you're on the sidewalk does not give you the right of way to enter without stopping".
