Bicyclist Dies After Hit-And-Run On Rainier Avenue

RENTON, WA - A Seattle man in his 50s who was hit by a pickup truck while riding his bicycle along Rainier Avenue South over the weekend has died, according to people who knew him. Alex Hayden was hit by the truck near South Lakeridge Drive on Saturday in an unincorporated area between Renton and Seattle.

According to Q13, Hayden was hit from behind by a red 1980s model GMC or Chevrolet pickup with a wooden structure built on back. The driver of the truck fled the scene of the accident, making a right on South Lakeridge Drive toward Skyway.

The truck was found over the weekend in SeaTac. The driver, a 50-year-old woman, later turned herself in to Seattle police, according to the King County Sheriff's Office. She was brought to the county jail on a vehicular assault charge.

Hayden's friends have set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help his family pay for funeral expenses. Hayden and his wife, Susan, ran a photography business in Seattle and he had two children.

"It is with a heavy heart that I write this, we have lost a dear friend and all around great person, Alex Hayden. Gone too soon by a tragic hit and run bike accident in Seattle," friends wrote on the fundraiser page.

The section of Rainier Avenue South Hayden was riding is popular with cyclists. The road has bike lanes on both sides. The stretch near where Hayden was hit was recently repaved and the road has not been fully re-striped.

King County deputies reported that Hayden was wearing a helmet and obeying traffic rules when he was hit, according to Q13.

Image courtesy GoFundMe, a Patch promotional partner