The residential Meyran Avenue and Louisa Street, the site of the crash

Yesterday, at about 2pm, a driver of a Ford Pickup truck struck and killed a cyclist at the residential intersection of Meyran Avenue and Louisa Street.  The cyclist has been identified as Ruihui Lin, 38, of Oakland, a delivery rider for Golden Palace Buffet on Forbes Ave.  It was reported that he was on his way home from work.  This crash marks the first fatal adult cycling crash in the City since drunk driver Eunice Bates struck and killed Bob Hemelrick on Second Ave in Hazelwood in January of 2004.  (note: we only know about these if someone tells us, or the media reports on it)

As if the situation isn’t bad enough, the driver fled the scene of the crash.  According to a witness, “he hung around for a while. Next time anyone looked, he was gone.”  Witnesses say that the driver was a white male in his late 40’s or early 50’s.  He had gray hair and was wearing a Steelers t-shirt, and driving a newer off-white Ford F-150 or F-250 pickup truck with a sunroof and black bed cover..

A witness even captured the driver on a cell phone camera, getting out of the vehicle to help the unresponsive victim, then leaving the scene to drive away.  Channel 11 published the video in this clip.

WTAE reports on some witnesses’ accounts:

“He pulled over and then we thought he was helping us and he turned around and took off,” Bhaskar said.

Other witnesses described the man’s actions as “sneaky,” saying he appeared to take advantage of the fact that people were concerned about the victim.”He definitely — while everyone was focused on the victim — he, like, went back to his truck, came back.

He didn’t make it seem like he was going to leave, but then I have no idea where he’s gone,” said Jonathan Faix, a witness.

This brings into question why someone would flee the scene of a crime.  Aside from thinking he can get away with it, what did this man have to hide?

It appears that the police are treating this with the seriousness that it deserves, and are currently looking for the driver and are confident that he will be found.  We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family of the victim.

You can join a discussion about this incident on the BikePGH Messageboard

---

Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership