A bicyclist has died on a stretch of Route 66 west of Galena, Kansas, less than a year after two German cyclists on vacation died in the same area.
According to a report from the Kansas Highway Patrol, a 50-year-driver from Georgia was westbound about 7 p.m. Wednesday on Kansas Highway 66 (aka Route 66) about 1.5 miles west of Galena when the northbound cyclist, David Furry, 47, of Galena, crossed the highway in front of her vehicle, resulting in a collision.
Furry died just before midnight. The driver was not injured.
The Wichita Eagle had more details about the crash.
According to a local television station:
The accident closed 3 lanes of traffic, including both eastbound lanes for hours.
Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves says this stretch of highway has become dangerous for pedestrians.
“This is the, when you count that double fatality, this is the fourth fatality within this mile and a half two mile stretch involving pedestrians or cyclists. Within about the last year and a half to two years,” said Sheriff Groves.
Groves was referring to a crash in May that occurred in about the same spot. Harry Jung, 74, and Heinz-Gerd Buchel, 71, both of Germany, were cycling on Route 66 when they were struck from behind by a minivan. They had planned to cycle the length of the Mother Road.
The driver of the minivan, Alyssa Parker, 23, of Shawnee, Kansas. Parker was not injured or charged after an investigation by the highway patrol.
Two of Buchel’s children later visited the site of the crash and visited a “ghost bike” along Route 66 in Galena in tribute to the dead cyclists.
(Image of “Ghost Bike” in Galena, Kansas, by Renee Charles via Facebook)
“According to a report from the Kansas Highway Patrol, a 50-year-driver from Georgia was westbound about 7 p.m… when the northbound cyclist…. crossed the highway in front of her vehicle, resulting in a collision.”
“The accident closed 3 lanes of traffic, including both eastbound lanes for hours.”
Were there traffic lights? What were the road markings? How wide was the road, and how much time would it take to cycle from one side to the other?
Sunset would have been about 1800 hrs, an hour before the accident. What reflective clothing was the cyclist wearing? Did the bike have sideways reflective markers?
Why were the eastbound lanes closed when the car was westbound, and the cyclist northbound?
Another example of pedal cycles and motor vehicles not being compatible?
Kansas 66 there is a four-lane divided highway with no stoplights until Riverton, Kansas. The speed limit on the highway is 65 mph.
I suspect they’ll find the primary reason for the accident was a lapse of judgment by the cyclist.
Thanks, Ron, for your reply. Unless the car did not have its headlights on, I tend to agree with you.