Source: The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office has identified the bicyclist who was killed in a fatal vehicle crash on Highway 66, east of Sedillo Hill, Wednesday evening. Department spokesman Sgt. Sam White said the cyclist has been identitied as 34-year-old Mario Maes. White said, for an unknown reason, Maes made a sudden movement toward the center lane of eastbound traffic where he was struck by an eastbound Ford Explorer. Maes was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Explorer was uninjured in the incident and is not being charged, however, the case - once completed - will be forwarded to the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office for further review. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the incident. Highway 66 was closed from Sedillo Hill to Mountain Valley for several hours Wednesday evening as authorities investigated the accident.
Collision Data
Crash time: Evening
Closest Intersection:
Land use: Urban
Road type: Urban Arterial
Where on the road the collision happened: Road
Collision type: Rear-end
Driver Data
Vehicle type: Light Trucks (SUVs, pickups)
If truck: Unknown
At crash time driver was: Don't Know
At crash time cyclist was: Failure to Yield
Sources
Source: News ReportType: TV
Pos/Neg: Negative
Link if Website: http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2789933.shtml
Failure to yield - yeah, riiiight!
Single witness suicide swerve. How can fault, in an accident with only one living witness, be attributed to the cyclist by default? From what I’ve read, this was a clear case of driver inattention causing the motor vehicle to drift into the cyclist’s path. This was no ‘cyclist failure to yield’.
As President of Duke City Wheelmen Foundation, I want to extend our condolences to the family and friends of Mario. Information on this crash has been scanty, but we have learned that a ghost bike has been placed.
If family or friends of Mario could contact us, we can offer the support of others who have lost a loved one in a similar way.
DukeCityWheelmen at google dot com
best,
Jennifer Buntz
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