Aurelius, NY (September 1, 2026) – A 41-year-old man died after being struck by multiple vehicles while crossing State Routes 5 and 20 on his bike against a red light near Veterans Memorial Parkway on Monday night, August 31, according to New York State Police. He had been riding north on the parkway around 8:05 p.m. and entered the westbound roadway as a 2017 Dodge Ram, traveling with a green light, struck him.
The bicyclist was thrown into the rear passenger side of a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado also traveling westbound, and came to rest in the parkway’s left lane. Both vehicles stopped along the shoulder. A third car then shifted into the left lane to pass the stopped vehicles and struck the bicyclist, who was still in the road.
He was taken to Auburn Community Hospital, where he later died. No signs of impairment were found in any of the drivers. The NYS Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Auburn continues to investigate.
Our condolences go out to his family and loved ones.
Why May Downed Cyclists Get Struck a Second Time?
Once someone is down in a travel lane after an initial crash, they become extremely difficult for approaching drivers to anticipate, especially at night when visibility is already limited. A driver focused on navigating around stopped vehicles may not register a person lying in the roadway until it’s too late to react.
Passing maneuvers around a crash scene carry particular risk, since a driver’s attention is on the stopped vehicles themselves rather than scanning the full width of the lane ahead. This narrowed focus can mean a secondary hazard, like a person in the road, goes unnoticed even by an otherwise attentive driver.
Investigators typically examine the sequence of both impacts, including each vehicle’s speed and lane position, to understand how the crash escalated across multiple points of contact. This kind of review helps establish whether the third driver had any reasonable opportunity to see the bicyclist before passing.
