Driver Cited After Hitting Two Cyclists While Trying To Pass Truck

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A motorist has been cited after he allegedly hit two bicyclists while trying to pass a box truck stopped at an intersection.

Milton police ticketed John Donovan Blankenship, 46, of Jasper for passing in a no-passing zone following the accident, which occurred around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 29 at the intersection of Freemanville and Dartmouth roads.

According to an incident report released by the Milton Police Department, five bicyclists were traveling in a single file line southbound on Freemanville Road towards Dartmouth Road when “a truck came into their lane and struck two riders.”

The second bicyclist was hit in a side-swiping manner towards the rear of his bike, causing its tire and rim to separate from the frame, the report states. The truck then allegedly hit the fourth bicyclist in line near its front driver side headlight area.

That resident transported by ambulance with serious injuries to an area hospital for treatment. The accident also caused both the third and fifth cyclists to crash their bikes. The leader of the pack was not injured nor hit. The two other bicyclists refused medical treatment and the fifth cyclist — a juvenile — was transported to an area hospital by his father.

Blankenship told officers he was traveling northbound on Freemanville Road towards Dartmouth Road when he saw the box truck at the intersection. He told the officer the truck’s reverse lights were on and “he observed the wheels of the box truck turned to the right, and that is how he knew the truck was turning onto Dartmouth (Road),” the report states.

The driver of the box truck said he missed the right turn onto Dartmouth and proceeded to back up “because he saw no traffic coming from behind him,” the report said. The driver said he was in the process of completing the right turn when he heard the crash.

Blankenship allegedly told officers he crossed over the double yellow line into the southbound lane to get around the back end of the truck. He added he’d just removed his foot from the clutch so he ”could not have been traveling fast,” the offer wrote in the report.

The motorist told officers he thought he only hit one bicyclist, and that he “did not have clear visibility of the southbound lane before he entered it,” the report sates.

Another witness, who was traveling northbound, said he observed the accident. The witness said he saw the grey pickup truck pass the box truck on the left by crossing over the double yellow lines. He told officers “the grey pickup truck blowed into a cyclist and sent the cyclist and his bike eight to 10 feet in the air.”

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