A Hilmar man out riding his bicycle along a stretch of country road in Turlock was killed Monday night when he was struck by a car.
In the aftermath of the collision it took the driver and two other motorists several minutes to find the bicyclist alongside the road, the California Highway patrol reported.
The deceased was identified as Jose Borges, 39.
Borges was riding his Raleigh bicycle on Fulkerth Road, east of Bystrum Road at 6:10 p.m. Monday. He was riding west in the westbound lane.
Traveling in the same direction was a 2010 GMC, driven by Diane Medina, 34, of Patterson.
The CHP estimates Medina was traveling at about 55 to 60 mph as her vehicle drew closer to Borges.
Borges was wearing a black sweatshirt with purple trim and blue jeans and was riding near the north edge of the road along the dark stretch of pavement.
Medina told the CHP she didn’t see him until it was too late to avoid a collision. The right front of the GMC hit the bicycle. The impact ejected Borges off the bicycle and sent the bicycle into the westbound lane of Fulkerth Road.
Medina was pulling off to the side of the road when a second vehicle — a 2004 Honda driven by Mayra Hernandez, 28, of Newman — came up on the scene.
Hernandez told the CHP officers she was watching Medina pull over to the side of the road and didn’t notice the bicycle in the road until she hit it.
The bicycle became lodged in the front bumper of the Honda and was dragged a few hundred feet before Hernandez was able to come to a stop.
A passing motorist stopped to help Hernandez remove the bicycle. They both spoke with Medina and soon established she had struck the bicycle while it was being ridden, the CHP said.
All three ran back to the initial point of impact, which is where they found Borges on the north shoulder of the road.
Mountain View Fire and American Medical Response personnel responded to the scene and attempted life-saving measures, but Borges succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:37 p.m.
The investigation into the collision is ongoing, though investigators do not believe drugs or alcohol were contributing factors in the collision.
Monday’s accident marked the second fatality of a bicyclist on Fulkerth Road in recent years. Patrick O’Connor, 27, of Sacramento was riding on the rural road on Sept. 1, 2010, when he was struck by a vehicle driven by Vanessa Carrillo. Carrillo fled the site of the collision and O’Connor died at the scene. Carrillo was eventually apprehended and in May 2012 pled no contest to felony hit and run and a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter.
