Serious accident sends cyclist to hospital

VERNON – A cyclist is facing serious injuries after being struck by a car on Highway 97 by Fruit Union Plaza.

RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says a 27-year-old male cyclist rode out from the alley behind Earl's Restaurant and was hit by a northbound Pontiac Sunfire car around 5:30 a.m.

Several witnesses told police the cyclist was wearing dark clothes and no helmet. 

"The driver of the car was driving northbound in the outside lane when the bike rider rode out in front of her resulting in an impact on the passenger front side of her vehicle," Molendyk says. 

The northbound lane was initially closed while a traffic analyst reconstructed the scene, but both lanes are open again.

“Usually when we call our crash analyst we are very concerned with the accident,” Molendyk says.

The cyclists’s injuries are severe, likely involving a punctured lung and some internal injuries. Molendyk says he was transported to Vernon Jubilee Hospital.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.

—This story was edited at 11:10 a.m. to include further details about the incident.