85-Year-Old Cyclist Killed on Longmont's Highway 119, Same Road That Took Magnus White

An 85-year-old cyclist was struck and killed by an SUV early Monday on Colorado Highway 119 near 83rd Street outside Longmont, just before 8 a.m., while attempting to turn left off the highway. The cyclist had been riding southbound on the right shoulder before moving toward the far-left lane to make the turn onto 83rd Street when the SUV hit him. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and his identity has not been released.

The crash happened on the same stretch of highway where 17-year-old cyclist Magnus White, a USA Cycling national team member, was struck and killed while training in 2023, according to the Denver Gazette. The Boulder County Coroner's Office will formally identify Monday's victim pending family notification and an autopsy. The SUV driver stayed at the scene and is cooperating with investigators, per the Gazette's report, and the Colorado State Patrol Vehicular Crimes Unit is leading what remains an open investigation under case reference VC260299.

A New Law, Twelve Days Old

Monday's crash also occurred less than two weeks after Magnus' Law, Senate Bill 26-132, took effect statewide on August 12. The law was signed by Governor Jared Polis on June 4, according to the Office of Governor Jared Polis, and requires officers investigating crashes that kill or seriously injure someone to offer a voluntary preliminary breath test to any driver reasonably suspected of fault, so long as probable cause for arrest has not already been established. The screening is voluntary, and under the statute, a driver's result or refusal cannot be used in court, per the Colorado General Assembly.

The law is named for Magnus White, whose parents, Jill White and Michael White, pushed for the reforms after their son's death. Responding officers in the 2023 crash did not perform roadside sobriety or blood tests because they initially believed the driver had fallen asleep, leaving the family without answers about possible impairment for nearly two years, according to CBS News. Trial evidence later showed the driver had been drinking hours before the crash, and a jury convicted her of vehicular homicide after finding she had acted recklessly while sleep-deprived. She was sentenced in June 2025 to four years in prison followed by three years of mandatory parole, as reported by Cycling Weekly.

A Corridor Already Flagged as Dangerous

Highway 119 carries more than 45,000 vehicles a day between Boulder and Longmont and has the highest rate of severe crashes per mile in unincorporated Boulder County, according to Commuting Solutions. The intersection pair at 83rd Street and Oxford Road had already been identified by CDOT and Boulder County as a high-crash, unsignalized location requiring targeted safety changes, per planning documents cited by Boulder Transportation Connections.

That corridor is currently the site of the $165 million CO 119 Safety, Mobility and Bikeway Improvements Project, a joint effort of the Colorado Department of Transportation, RTD and Boulder County that broke ground in fall 2024 and is expected to wrap up in spring 2027. The project includes a separate nine-mile commuter bikeway and plans to reconfigure unsignalized median turns like the one where Monday's crash occurred.

Statewide Toll Mounts

Through mid-August, Colorado had recorded 9 bicyclist fatalities and 315 total traffic deaths statewide this year, according to preliminary Colorado Department of Transportation safety data. In 2025, the state logged 701 traffic fatalities overall, including 18 bicyclist deaths and 126 pedestrian deaths, one of the deadliest years on record for non-motorized road users, as reported by the Denver Gazette.

The push for safer roads has also reached Congress. A federal bill named the Magnus White and Safe Streets for Everyone Act, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse and Yvette Clarke, passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May as part of a broader Surface Transportation reauthorization package, according to the Office of Congressman Joe Neguse.

Highway Reopened, Investigation Continues

Highway 119 southbound was closed for several hours following Monday's crash before reopening with one lane. Colorado State Patrol asked drivers in the area to slow down and avoid the crash site if possible while investigators worked the scene. Witnesses have been asked to contact CSP Metro dispatch at 303-239-4501.