Easy Peasy

Probably a case of doing everything right and still getting into big trouble. Very sad.

https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-b...,2460559.story

Here's a satellite photo of the bridge where it happened. There appears to be a cement divider between N and S lanes and not much room in the lanes.

https://maps.google.com/maps?client=s...ed=0CB0Q8gEwAA

If I learn of any details, I'll post them.

10 Wheels

Elderly driver...narrow shoulder with many drainage grades?

RB1-luvr

oy, I hope he makes it through this ok. such a bummer.

K'Tesh

+1

Prayers going out to him and his family for a quick and complete recovery.

Chris516

I love how the newspaper says he is in the ICU, then refers to him in the same article, as if he had died within a few paragraphs.

Easy Peasy

A photo of the SUV involved in the accident with damage on the passenger side of the front windshield:

https://www.wfmz.com/news/news-region...s/-/index.html

10 Wheels

Interesting how the bike is up right with no rear wheel showing.

Snydermann

Shows pretty much she rolled right up on him. I'd guess any kind of glancing blow would have bounced the bike off the vehicle. Plus the bike looks dead center with the grille emblem. Given it was on the bridge with no shoulder he was probably taking his lane and the woman hit him.

Such a tragedy.

Chris516

+1

With the cyclist probably 'taking the lane', I bet the driver still told the police 'I didn't see him'.

vol

"Patrick Ytsma, 53, was still alive late Wednesday, but was not expected to live long, as doctors at St. Luke's Hospital-Fountain Hill prepared him for organ donations." I hope the doctors did make every effort to save him despite the need for organ donations

79-year old driver... where did she belong?

That is why sometimes before a short ride for errands I think about whether it's worth it to ride just 10 blocks and risk an accident.

I always have some reservation about taking the lane: you never know who will be driving behind you. It cold be an 79 year old, a teenager with earphones, or someone who hates cyclists, or a drunkard...

Chris516

That thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion. Except for me, that is why I 'take the lane'.

Yes I know the motorist will have a vehicle that is a ton or more, and I will only have a 20pd. bike. But, By NOT 'taking the lane', I feel that I would actually be putting myself in more danger, than I would by NOT 'taking the lane'. Because I am always on the lookout for right-hooks, drifters, and speeders.

frozen fork

I don’t know where she belonged but I do have an opinion where the killer now belongs

Easy Peasy

I think re-testing elderly drivers would help some. How many are visually/physically or mentally impaired?
I once saw an elderly driver blow through a 4 way intersection with stop signs going 45mph. It was incredible. I still regularly see drivers texting as they roll to stop signs and lights. I do take the lane, but after reading this story, I'm going to find routes where I don't have to take the lane as often.

unterhausen

the roads in Pennsylvania almost never have enough room for a cyclist and a car to operate side by side. If an impaired person is behind you, you are almost surely better off to be as close to the driver's side as you can be so they don't have to have any peripheral vision to see you. If they truly are impaired enough that they don't see you, the difference between taking the lane and not taking the lane is inconsequential and would just be the difference between getting hit on the driver side or the passenger side

LVRider

Patrick unfortunately passed away this morning as a result of his injuries. May he rest in peace.

Bekologist

RIP fellow rider Patrick. america so beholden to the automobile we force blind elderly citizens to own cars for trips around town. Patrick's death is a tragedy that echoes the dysfunction in our transportation modality in this country.

RB1-luvr

so tragic. I feel sad for everyone that will miss him.

Chris516

RIP Patrick

My condolences to his family n' friends

Easy Peasy

My sincere condolences to Patrick's family and friends. I hope his life and the circumstances of his death can be an impetus to improve bicycle safety in the Lehigh valley and elsewhere.

buzzman

What a loss. Deepest sympathies to all who knew him.

CB HI

Who are these evil doers that are putting guns to these peoples head and forcing them to drive?

Chris516

Society

Society makes people think, if they drive, they are somehow still worth something. If people don't drive, society looks down upon them with disdain, chagrin, and downright disgust.

Just look at how police treat cyclists. If a motorist reports something, the police will immediately respond. But if a cyclist reports something, the police respond with disdain.

B. Carfree

This is another death that feels close to home. The murdered cyclist is my age, started using his bike as a serious means of transportation about the same time I dd, was a stickler for following the law, is generally viewed as a safe cyclist and boldly rides in bike-hostile areas.

Worse yet, the killer sounds like my mother: an elderly woman whose vision is inadequate for night-driving and probably needs to cease all driving. I just won't believe the killer didn't know she couldn't see well enough to drive, no one is that clueless. Many people are self-centered enough to drive even though they know they are unsafe at any speed, though.

Easy Peasy

Follow-up news article: https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/beth...uck_kille.html

"Bethlehem police identified a 79-year-old Upper Saucon Township woman as the driver who struck Patrick Ytsma's bike from behind Sunday afternoon on the Fahy Bridge.

Ytsma struck the pavement and suffered severe head trauma, according to police. Ytsma succumbed to his injuries this morning at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill.

Police said Lucille DeMartin, of the 3000 block of Village Drive, hit Ytsma at 4:45 p.m. as they both were headed south on the bridge. Police said weather and road conditions did not play a role in the crash.

The investigation is ongoing, police said, and it has not been determined if charges will be filed. Police do not believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.

DeMartin could not be reached for comment.

Ytsma's mother, Itie, said Wednesday night that doctors would remove Ytsma from life support, and she didn't expect him to live.

Ytsma worked as an architect for Spillman Farmer Architects and was a 1976 graduate of Liberty High School.

He is survived by a wife, Judith Ytsma, and two teenage children, according to his mother.

Ytsma's mother said the family is devastated, but keeping busy with funeral preparations. Several of Patrick Ytsma's organs were able to be donated, Itie Ytsma said.

"That was very good," Itie Ytsma said. "He wanted to do that. So at least there are pieces of his life still out there."
A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday morning at Bachman, Kulik and Reinsmith funeral home at 17th and Hamilton streets in Allentown. Calling hours at the funeral home will be from 10 to 11 a.m."

frozen fork

Quoted for truth