By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
An STP bicyclist was seriously injured when he was run over by a hay truck in Centralia yesterday.
Aid and police were called about 2:20 p.m. to the intersection of North Pearl Street and Reynolds Avenue.
Southbound bicyclists and other traffic were stopped at a light and when the light turned green the man’s bike wobbled and he fell into the path of the truck, Centralia Police Department Sgt. Carl Buster said.
The rear dual wheels of the flatbed truck drove over his upper body, Buster said.
“I’m thinking his foot got stuck in the pedal or something,” Buster said.
Firefighters took him to Providence Centralia Hospital with chest, neck and head injuries, according to Riverside Fire Authority acting Capt. Rick LeBoeuf.
Thousands of bicyclists are taking part this weekend in the 200-mile ride, the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic.
The bicyclist, Donald Becker, 58, of Vancouver, Wash. was flown by helicopter to Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, according to Buster.
Police were told this morning he is still in the intensive care unit, with broken shoulders and an injury to his lung, but his head is okay, Buster said.
The woman driving the truck was not ticketed, Buster said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I am sorry to hear about the individual who was injured during this event. I am praying for his full recovery from the injuries.
I am one of the cyclists who participated in the event. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the hospitality of the various towns who allowed us to pass through. This is an event with 10,000 cyclists and I can appreciate the inconvenience that some readers feel about the slowing down of traffic.
The majority of the cyclists respect the rules of the road. We chide those who run lights or become a nuisance on the road. We use expressions such as “car back” (meaning there is a car behind us and we have to clear the way for the cars). There is no reason for any cyclist to run red lights. We yelled at a rider who did this during the ride on Saturday. Almost all of the cyclists are car drivers and we are aware of the need to obey the rules of the road.
Seriously folks? Don’t post such nasty comments. Instead, use your energy to pray that this man recovers from his ACCIDENT!
I think it is amazing how people are so inconsiderate to post comments like this regarding a story about a cyclist in critical condition. This individual had to be flown to the hospital. Obviously, he had life threatening injuries and people are posting about how they are delayed for a few minutes once a year when the STP. People are soo impatient. Maybe you should stop and enjoy watching them and reflect on how short life is rather than complain.
“Bicyclists there not only think they own the road, they act as if rules for motorized vehicles do not apply to them.”
Did you even read the article? The bicyclist lost his balance… that’s all. He didn’t do anything illegal. He wasn’t trying to cut anyone off or “rule the road.”
I love how so many people go to post on articles like this, not completely paying attention to the facts. I also love how insensitive they are to the families.
I wish the bicyclist the best and I am praying for his full recovery. I hope everyone else will have the decency to do the same.
This is what goes on every day in Seattle. Bicyclists there not only think they own the road, they act as if rules for motorized vehicles do not apply to them.
And now they not only have “one of their own” in the mayor’s office, Mike McGinn has created a $95K-per-year job for the Advocacy Director of the Cascade Bicycle Club (a virulent anti-car person named David Hiller) while asking other city departments to cut their own budgets 3 to 8 percent. In other words, things there will not get better, and we’ll likely see more of this “No Rules” attitude coming through town every year with the STP.
I can come up with 101 reasons in favor of bicycling and think the vast majority of cyclists do ride with a degree of sanity and responsibility, but those who ride with chips on their shoulder (like the Critical Mass riders who purposely clog traffic in downtown Seattle on the last Friday of the month during rush hours) are little more than self-absorbed anarchists on two wheels.
Yesterday, we had to wait through 2 red lights to make a right hand turn onto first st in centralia. The cyclists were all on the right hand side of the right lane and when the light would turn green, they would all go. But we could not just stop and make the right hand turn because they were too close to get through without hitting them. It would seem to me that they would have waited 10 seconds to let 1 waiting car through rather than just going and leaving that car sitting. By the time the light turned green again, there was another round that did the same thing…..how do we compete? UGH!!
I know someone that is doing the STP and is a Winlock resident..I naturally looked at the article to see what happened..yes over the years I have seen the bike riders instead of doing single file lines to west to east lines…thus blocking the way for people to pass them.but for the most part,they’re ok..
it’s only a two day event and they have just as much right to be there as any car..Problem is cars somtimes dont give these riders a break.
I think what these cyclists do is commendable, I really do. But I live in Winlock, and can’t tell you how many I saw run a stop sign that has a blinking light and clearly says “Cyclists MUST STOP”
I even saw one texting and cycling.
The City of Winlock could get rich if they just had an officer sitting there giving out tickets for not obeying the traffic laws they are supposed to.
I heard that there were several of these riders blowing through red lights, running pedestrians off the roads, impeding traffic while on their leisurely rides, etc…. absolutely no regard for traffic laws. And this was happening not just in Centralia, but all over the place.
Hopefully, this injured rider recovers. This wasn’t caused by a rider or driver acting up… this was, indeed, just an accident.