Aug 26, 2005 --
An Ashburn high school student was killed this morning when he failed
to stop at a stop sign while riding his mountain bike at the
intersection of Ivandale Road and the W&OD Trail. The teenager
collided with a green commercial truck driving north on Ivandale Road
near Hamilton, the Loudoun Sheriff’s Office said.
Ryan Bickel, 17, is the
second person who was riding on the trail to be killed in three days.
Both victims failed to stop at the posted stop signs on the trail,
police said.
On Wednesday, Eugenio
Lucini, 57, was riding his mountain bike on the trail around 4:15 p.m.
when he attempted to cross Route 704 (Hamilton Station Road) without
yielding or stopping and was fatally struck by a car, Loudoun Sheriff’s
Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said.
Bickel was riding his
mountain bike west on the W&OD Trail near Hamilton shortly before
10 a.m. when he apparently ran the stop sign posted on the trail,
Troxell said. The teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the Ford F350
commercial truck, Alexsei Solórzano, 38, of Winchester, was passing the
bike trail when the bike struck the passenger side of the truck. Bickel
was not wearing a bicycle helmet. Troxell said he is not aware of any
witnesses, other than the truck driver.
Bickel was a senior at Broad
Run High School. School System spokesman Wayde Byard said Bickel was
well liked and active outside of school. The school’s principal Edgar
T. Markley said Bickel had a good sense of humor, according to Byard.
"Faculty was told today before they were dismissed," said Byard.
"We'll have our crisis team
there first thing Monday. So we're ready on that respect. It's not how
we want to open school, naturally, but we are prepared for it."
Today’s fatal accident is approximately a 1/2-mile from where Lucini was killed. He was wearing a bike helmet.
Troxell said the sheriff’s
office determined that speed was not a factor in either of the fatal
crashes and none of the drivers will be charged.
“In light of this tragic
accident the sheriff's office reminds bicyclists and users of the
W&OD trail that state law requires them to stop and yield the right
of way when crossing and or entering a highway (VA Code 46.2-826),”
Troxell said.
The intersection where Bickel
was killed does not have a crosswalk, unlike the section of the trail
where Lucini was killed two days earlier. The only warning there is for
motorists traveling north or south on Ivandale Road is a yellow sign
with a bike on it. Where the trail intersects Ivandale Road, there are
stop sings and warnings painted on the trail's two sides that tell the
rider to stop at the intersection.
