HOLDEN, Maine — A 15-year-old Holden girl apparently escaped major injury Friday afternoon after a car struck her bicycle on Route 1A, according to police.
Holden police Sgt. Eugene Fizell said the girl, whose name was withheld because of her age, did not appear to have suffered serious injury. She was taken for observation to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor as a precaution, he said.
Fizell said that the teenager was riding her bicycle east on U.S. Route 1A about 4:10 p.m. when she began making a left turn into a driveway near the end of Copeland HIll Road.
Though the girl said she looked to see if any vehicles were coming, she apparently failed to see a car driven by Donna Ryan, 65, of Bangor approaching her from behind.
Ryan, however, saw the bicyclist.
“She did a fantastic job [in minimizing the impact of the crash],” Fizell said. “She saw the potential problem with the girl on the bike. She slammed on the brakes and moved over to the center of the road.”
Despite her efforts, Ryan was unable to avoid hitting the bicycle. The girl and her bike were thrown over the hood and came to a rest in the roadway.
“The girl did flip over her handlebars. She was very lucky her injuries weren’t worse,” Fizell said, adding that the accident happened at the start of the evening commute, with heavy traffic.
Among the first people to come upon the accident was Holden Police Chief Gene Worcester, who took control of the scene and summoned help, Fizell said.
Neither Ryan nor her passenger was injured, Fizell said. He said the driver and passenger both were wearing seat belts when the accident happened. Damage to Ryan’s car included a broken mirror and scratches.
Fizell said that the teenager was not wearing a helmet when the accident happened. He said that state law requires all bicyclists under the age of 18 to wear a helmet or risk a $50 fine.
Fizell said, however, that a fine will not be imposed, given the medical bills her family likely will face.
Personnel from the Holden Fire Department and Capital Ambulance provided assistance at the scene.
BDN I know I’m easily confused, but if the girl was making a left, why would a car from behind go to the center of the road to avoid hitting her?
It is possible they were not aware the girl was turning left by the time they saw her to come to that conclusion in such short time, maybe she was in the shoulder started a left turn when the driver come upon her, I seen some kids (in fact I had one today) in my side of the road making a right hand turn, instead of going right like normal people do, he wanders way out in the left side of the road (making me think he might go left) and swings a right hand turn like he is driving a tractor trailer. Not saying this is what happened here but, not much details on where the location of that bike was to think of a reasoning behind it other then to say it is possible that something put move left on the drivers mind.
Oh ya, when taking a turn, bikers, motorized or not, take room to lean, safely or not. We all run into it (figuratively). I just have a sneaking suspicion the car driver was coming from the opposite direction and was reported incorrectly. Or not. :)
If she was coming from the opposite direction she would have been making a right and never would have had a need to be in the road as that section of 1A does have a hard paved shoulder. She would have also had to slow down to a very slow speed to make the turn as she would have been going downhill and the right turn from 1A onto Copeland Hill is a sharp turn.
And it would take a very experienced cyclist to take that turn at a high rate of speed. I don’t know many 15 year old girls that ride high performance road bikes or would have the experience to make the right at a high rate of speed which would cause one to swing out left before making the right.
If the girl had been traveling at a high rate of speed she would have caused much more damage to the vehicle and to herself.
All the variables you mention may have come into play, but the article doesn’t mention any of them. What I believe happened nearly happened to me last Wed. Going down the road while a 10+/- year old coming from the other direction started to zipp a left in front of me. I swerved to the left instinctively and hit the brakes. Scared the crap outta him and me!
Because she was making a left turn from the right-hand side of the road, a big no-no.
The cyclist should have checked for overtaking traffic and then merged to the left side of her lane before making the left turn.
In that scenario, wouldn’t the driver swerve to the right? Ya know, where the bike was leaving, not where it was going? Who knows except for the parties involved. Those things happen so fast…..
Scott, Answer is right on. I HOPE THAT DRIVERS READING THIS see and understand why they will see a cyclist riding down the center line every now and then. Its much safer for everyone when we need to make a left turn if we are already in the center
Thank God it was someone paying attention driving and not someone yacking on a cell phone.
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The girl on the bicycle was going uphill so she couldn’t have been moving very fast and while the female driver could have swerved towards the hard shoulder which is plenty wide at that intersection when the “it” hits the fan one you commit to a direction you are normally stuck with it.
Hopefully the girl did not suffer any sort of internal injuries and will be released from the hospital soon.
Kevy, maybe because the girl SUDDENLY pulled out 5 feet in front of the car that was going maybe 45 mph.
There’s no hill at the end of Copeland Hill Rd, you can just barely call it a slight upgrade. A 15 year old should be able peddle that without even slowing down.
That was my gf who got hit by the car. I’m so glad she’s ok. She’s resting up at her house, now.