Bicyclist Hit at Main and Pleasant; Injuries Said Serious

NORTHAMPTON — A man riding his bicycle east on Main Street was hit by a car turning left onto Pleasant Street Saturday evening around 7:30 p.m.

A state police spokesman said the cyclist’s injuries were “potentially fatal,” but declined to reveal any more details.

Pleasant Street northbound from Hampton Avenue to Main Street was blocked for several hours while state and local police investigated the accident scene, which was cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape. Downtown was busy with pedestrian and vehicle traffic after a warm and clear spring day.

The accident left a mangled gray road bike with Look-style clipless pedals lying in front of a late-model gray Acura with obvious hood damage. Police were seen taking measurements and bagging evidence, including what appeared to be an .mp3 player with earbuds lying in the street next to a pile of bloodied white rags.

The following video was shot by Alicia Ralph, a citizen media producer with Northampton Community Television, who was carrying an NCTV-supplied flip camera with her. (Direct link to video on YouTube here.) It shows state and local police at work investigating the accident scene:

A waitress from Spoleto Restaurant told Northampton Media that two of her customers sitting at outdoor tables, who said they were nurses, had witnessed the accident and tried to staunch the man’s bleeding before paramedics arrived. The customers said the man was experiencing seizures and seemed to be in serious condition, she said.

According to Northampton Police Department scanner traffic, the man had “numerous head lacerations” and had “seized numerous times,” but was conscious when emergency responders arrived.

Two young women who had witnessed the cyclist riding down Main Street moments before the accident told Northampton Media he was traveling at a high rate of speed, weaving through traffic, and passing on the right. They said the man was not wearing a helmet.

The bicycle appeared to be a relatively new consumer-grade sport racing model with 700 centimeter wheels. When asked if the man was wearing a local team jersey, the women said no, that he was wearing a blue t-shirt.

Two older women who had directly witnessed the accident declined to comment after speaking with police.

Troopers from the Massachusetts State Police Northampton Barracks, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, the Crime Scene Services Section, and Hampshire/Franklin State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office are assisting the Northampton Police with the crash investigation.

- Mary Serreze