Vacationing Woman Was Intoxicated When Killed In Bike-Truck Collision: Police

An Ohio woman was under the influence of alcohol when she died after her bicycle crashed into a truck in St. Helena in May, a police sergeant said. Maria Crozier, 31, of North Ridgeville, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.18 percent at the time of the 1:50 p.m. accident on May 26, St. Helena police Sgt. Matt Talbott said this morning.

The 0.18 percent level is the result of toxicology tests that are included in the St. Helena police report, Talbott said. “The primary factor in the crash was DUI,” Talbott said.

Crozier and her husband were celebrating their first wedding anniversary in St. Helena and were wine tasting at the nearby Merryvale Vineyards winery before the crash, Talbott said.

The couple then rode their bicycles on Main Street near the Inn at Southbridge business complex. Crozier struck the side of a box truck while turning south on Main Street and fell under the wheels of the slow moving truck, Talbott said.

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Crozier’s bicycle had only a front brake and it was functioning as the manufacturer intended, the sergeant said. “She didn’t use the brake at all, and she ran into the side of the truck and was run over,” Talbott said.

Unlike vehicle drivers, there is no blood-alcohol level at which a bicycle rider is considered intoxicated, Talbott said.

“Intoxication is reflected in your manner in which you ride your bike,” he said.

The level at which vehicle drivers are considered intoxicated is 0.08 percent.

The Napa County coroner’s office has not closed its investigation of the incident or given a cause of death, Talbott said. The Napa County coroner’s office did not return a phone call this morning.

--Bay City News