A 30-year-old bicyclist was left on the ground with serious injuries early Monday after a gray sedan struck him from behind on Aurora Avenue North and kept driving, according to Seattle police. The hit-and-run happened near North 97th Street, on a stretch of the busy arterial that cuts through the city's Greenwood neighborhood.
According to KOMO News, Seattle police officers responded to reports of the collision around 12:17 a.m. Monday and found the man on the ground with serious injuries. Police said he had been riding south on Aurora Avenue North when the sedan hit him from behind before continuing south without stopping.
Officers rendered aid until Seattle Fire Department crews arrived and took the man to Harborview Medical Center, KOMO reported. Accounts of his condition differed: KIRO 7 News Seattle reported that Seattle Fire described his condition as critical, while Seattle police described it as serious.
Detectives Review Footage, Interview Witnesses
Seattle police officers interviewed witnesses at the scene and reviewed video footage as part of the investigation, per KOMO's reporting. Traffic collision investigation squad detectives are now working to determine what led up to the collision, and police are asking anyone with tips or video to call 206-684-8923.
The driver of the gray sedan has not been identified, and no arrest has been announced. The crash adds to a string of collisions involving cyclists in Seattle; last October, a 30-year-old woman biking on Capitol Hill suffered a leg injury after a hit-and-run near Broadway and East Pine Street and was taken to Harborview in serious but stable condition.
Aurora Avenue's Troubled Safety Record
The stretch of roadway where Monday's crash occurred has drawn scrutiny before. A Seattle Department of Transportation study covering 2015 through 2019 found that 17% of all traffic fatalities across Seattle happened on Aurora Avenue North, the same report cited by KIRO 7. That study also found that people biking and walking were more likely to be seriously hurt in collisions along the corridor, and that pedestrians made up just 5% of collisions but accounted for half of all fatalities.
Since that study period ended in 2019, eight more people have died on Aurora, six of them pedestrians, the outlet's report noted. SDOT is now conducting a longer-range planning study covering a 7.6-mile stretch of the corridor aimed at defining future cross sections with pedestrian and bicycle safety upgrades and transit improvements, according to the department's project page.
