ALAMOSA — “It’s very unfortunate that this happened,” says Capt. Nathan Lyons with the Colorado State Patrol. “Just a real tragedy.” According to Lyons, at 7:25 p.m. on Wednesday night, a rider on an e-bike was traveling south on Highway 17 Mile Post 71, which is “right by Splashland,” when he was hit from behind by a Chevrolet Tahoe, who was also traveling south in the lane of travel.
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ALAMOSA — “It’s very unfortunate that this happened,” says Capt. Nathan Lyons with the Colorado State Patrol. “Just a real tragedy.”
According to Lyons, at 7:25 p.m. on Wednesday night, a rider on an e-bike was traveling south on Highway 17 Mile Post 71, which is “right by Splashland,” when he was hit from behind by a Chevrolet Tahoe, who was also traveling south in the lane of travel.
The rider of the e-bike was fatally injured in the accident and has since been identified as 28-year-old Deshawn Joyce of Alamosa.
“Bikes have every right to be on the roadway if they’re equipped with the proper equipment, such as the right markings, reflectors, lights and show due regard for traffic,” Lyons said. “Any bike, whether it’s regular, electrical or scooter, have the same lighting restrictions where, by statute, they must be visible at 600 feet. They also have the same rules about where to travel. They’re supposed to maintain the right side of the roadway and, according to the statute, go with the traffic.”
Joyce was riding in the middle of the travel lane.
In that stretch of road and with both parties traveling south, that’s generally in the area where the speed limit decreases from 65 mph to 50 mph and the shoulder of the road isn’t big.
“It was 7:25 at night on October 16th so it was dark. What we’ve been able to determine is, if there was a reflector, it was very small. We haven’t found it. We aren’t saying there wasn’t one. It’s certainly possible. But we haven’t found it yet,” Lyons said.
“It's so unfortunate. A guy’s just out riding his bike and this happens. Just a terrible tragedy all around.”
The two occupants in the truck, including the driver who was a 76-year-old male and his passenger, a 68-year-old female, were uninjured. Both are of Capulin.