LAS VEGAS -- A shattered windshield marks the spot where a 23-year-old landed following an accident Tuesday evening. He was thrown 30 yards on to a median and rushed to the hospital with critical injuries.
"Lying on the floor in pain, I guess he was on a bike," said witness Abby Flores. "His bike was thrown all the way over here, and he was just hurt on the ground."
Police say the victim was riding his bike in a marked crosswalk when the driver of a van slammed into him.
"It was like a loud noise," Flores said.
Police say it does not appear the van's driver is at fault.
"From what we can tell, the bicycle didn't have any lights on it," said Metro Police Sgt. J. Richter. "He was crossing the street in a crosswalk, but it was illegal to cross that way."
Even though the 23-year-old was riding a bike, he barely escaped death, unlike the six pedestrians killed so far this year.
The latest deadly pedestrian traffic accident occurred Tuesday morning on Eastern Ave. near U.S. 95. A 30-year-old mother of four was walking in a marked crosswalk, when a vehicle struck and killed her. Both the driver and the woman had the green light, but the woman had the right of way.
Two other pedestrians died on Nevada roads Jan. 7 and Jan. 5.
"I feel like I have to be careful, because I may never know when anything might happen," Flores said.
"Follow the laws. Follow the bicycle laws. Have lights on your bike and follow the rules of the road," Sgt. Richter said.
Even through the victim on the bike used a crosswalk, it's the law for a bicyclist to must get off his or her bike at a crosswalk and walk it across the intersection.
The victim was listed in stable condition Tuesday night.
