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Bicyclist Injured in Collision with Delivery Truck
A 54-year-old Jackson, Wyoming resident received multiple injuries when he was struck by the rearview mirror of a delivery truck while biking on Highway 26/89/191, about 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11. The delivery truck, driven by a 54-year-old Jackson man, and the bicyclist were both northbound on the highway when the accident occurred approximately one mile north of the Airport Junction in Grand Teton National Park. The cyclist was wearing a bike helmet.
After making contact with the bicyclist, the driver of the truck quickly stopped and made a 911 call on his cell phone to summon help. Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received the rerouted 911 call from the Teton County Sherriff’s Office at 9:19 a.m. and a park ranger immediately responded to the accident site.
The ranger provided emergency medical care to the bicyclist and sent him by park ambulance to St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson.
Further details about this incident will be available at the conclusion of an accident investigation.
About 3.8 million people travel by vehicle on Grand Teton National Park roads each year. While accidents between vehicles and bicycles or pedestrians are rare, park managers completed a transportation plan in 2007 that included, among other goals, a system of multi-use pathways within the park to separate pedestrians and bicyclists from vehicle traffic.
Construction of a separated pathway running parallel to Highway 26/89/191 is scheduled to begin on June 1, and a 6.3 mile pathway segment from Moose Junction to the park’s south boundary will join a pathway system being built from the Town of Jackson toward the park. Once constructed, the entire pathway (approximately 12 miles) will provide a measure of safety, separating non-motorized users from motorists on Highway 26/89/191.