Bicyclist dies in Friday accident
Published 6:26 pm Friday, November 20, 2009
A Bainbridge man died Friday morning after a semi-trailer truck struck the bicycle he was riding.
The accident happened in front of Dollar Farm Products on Dothan Road shortly after 10 a.m. Friday.
Thomas Bryant, 65, of Brinson Street, Bainbridge, died in the accident, according to Bainbridge Public Safety.
Bryant was riding his bicycle west on Dothan Road but was in the eastbound lanes of the four-lane highway when the semi-trailer truck struck him, BPS Capt. Jack Bunting said. Bunting said it was not clear why Bryant was in the wrong lane of travel.
The Dollar Farm Products truck, driven by 34-year-old Lee Birdsong of Brinson, was turning out of one of the business’ driveways into the eastbound lanes when the accident happened, according to BPS officers.
Due to the height of the truck and Bryant’s proximity to the driveway, Birdsong could not see Bryant on his bicycle and was not at fault in the accident, Bunting said.
Bryant was forcefully thrown off his bicycle into the roadway and died at the scene.
Eddie Trueluck, a truck driver from Lee County, Ga., was making a delivery across the highway at Flint River Mills at the time of the accident. Trueluck said he did not see it occur but had seen Bryant and others riding bicycles in the area earlier on Friday morning.
“It’s a dangerous intersection, there’s a lot of trucks coming in and out of Dollar Farm Products and FRM, and onto [Georgia] 253,” Trueluck said.
Bunting said Birdsong had not been drinking alcohol before the crash. He said a blood alcohol content test would be performed on blood taken from Bryant as a part of standard procedure following a serious accident.