A 79 year-old cyclist was struck and killed this morning in a Catalina Foothill neighborhood.
The cyclist was identified as Richard Hayward Leon from Redmond, WA
Pima County Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Peine said the crash occurred at Moon Crest Drive and Hawks Wing Drive.
Peine said the 19-year-old motorist was heading south on Moon Crest Drive when the cyclist, who was heading east on Hawks Wing Drive failed to stop at a stop sign and hit the car.
The cyclists was pronounced dead at the scene and the motorists was not at fault. Peine did not know if there were other witnesses to the crash.
Anyone have any further details on this?
Lets hope the police do their job. If there are no witnesses, then unfortunately its another case of the word of the driver against that of the dead cyclist. Oh wait.
On Nov 14, a memorial service was held for Dick Leon at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Tucson. He was a retired minister who still taught classes at the church’s Sunday school. My mother attended the service and she said that some people in the neighborhood where the accident happened felt sorry for the driver, and others thought that Dick may have had a health problem that prevented him from braking–heart attack, dizziness, etc.
Personally, as a cyclist, I am angered that cyclists continue to be blamed for vehicle/bike accidents! How many bike deaths does this make for Tucson this year? 4 or 5? Outrageous and disheartening.
Like kit_plummer, I’d like further details on the incident.