We are sorry to report that one of our members, Janice Onorato, was struck last week by a car while riding on the Steese Highway near Chatanika.
Fortunately, she is alive and able to move on her own power, but she did suffer from some nerve damage, an internal tear and severe contusion on left buttocks, various bruises up and down her body, and some road rash. And, of course, her bike is badly broken.
Janice was riding with her partner, moreen, at the time of the incident. moreen was riding ahead and heard an explosion (which was the car's tire being punctured by the bike), and so turned around to hurry back. According to moreen, Janice was hit from behind, then the driver tried to drive away but was prevented from doing so due to the flat tire and other damage to the vehicle. She never got out of her vehicle, but others stopped to help Janice.
moreen said they carry a Garmin inReach and used the SOS function to call for help. "The police and ambulance arrived about 30-45 minutes after the collision," moreen said.
The authorities were called to the scene and are investigating. We have been told the responding Alaska State Trooper gave the car driver a failure to yield citation and revoked her driver's license until the case is further evaluated. The case number is AK25057898, but we couldn't find anything online about it. If anyone knows how to track an AST case, please let us know.
Janice and her partner, moreen, ride frequently and try to be as safe as possible. They use front and back lights, wear bright vests, and hug the shoulder. They also use mirrors. They were riding north of Chatanika because there is less traffic there.
Please be careful and vigilant while cycling on the road. Unfortunately, as cyclists we can do everything right and still be vulnerable.
If you do have an incident, even a near miss, please report it to BikeMaps.org, a crowdsource tool for global mapping of cycling safety.
If you would like to send your well wishes to Janice and moreen and don't have contact info for them, you can reply to this post.