A 33-year-old Bunnell man died early Tuesday morning after two vehicles struck him while he was bicycling across U.S. 1 in Flagler County, just south of Otis Stone Hunter Road. The crash happened at about 6:22 a.m. as he and a second bicyclist tried to cross the highway from the east grass shoulder on their way to work.
According to the Observer Local News, the two bicyclists crossed directly in front of a northbound pickup truck driven by a 70-year-old Palm Coast man, who was unable to slow down in time and struck one of them. The impact threw the bicyclist into the roadway, where a sedan driven by a 24-year-old St. Augustine man could not avoid him, striking him a second time and dragging him farther north on U.S. 1.
The bicyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, and his next of kin has since been notified, the outlet's report states. Neither the pickup driver nor the sedan driver was hurt in the crash. The details of the collision were attributed to a Florida Highway Patrol news release, according to Action News Jax.
A Third Vehicle Passed Through the Wreckage
A third vehicle, an SUV driven by a 48-year-old Bunnell woman, drove through the debris field left by the collision and stopped just north of the crash site, per the same account. It is not known whether the SUV driver was injured or whether the second bicyclist who was crossing U.S. 1 that morning was hurt.
The crash marks the second fatal bicycle collision recorded in Flagler County on a September 15 in recent years. On the same date in 2023, a 51-year-old Palm Coast man was killed while riding his bicycle on County Road 302 near Bunnell, according to the News-Journal. That crash, which happened around 6:55 a.m., also involved two vehicles: the first struck the bicyclist with its passenger-side mirror, and a second car then hit him as he lay in the travel lane. FHP said at the time that the bicyclist had no lights on his bike, was not wearing a helmet, and that fog was present that morning.
Prior Cases Underscore the Danger for Cyclists on Local Roads
Flagler County has seen other bicyclists killed in traffic in past years. A 63-year-old Jacksonville woman died while riding her bicycle in the county on a Wednesday night, according to a report from staugustine.com.
No further details on citations, fault determinations, or the status of the Florida Highway Patrol's investigation into Tuesday's crash have been made public.
