Person driving killed a 61-year-old man biking in SODO this morning and fled – UPDATED
Approximate location of the fatal collision, via Google Street View.
A 61-year-old man was killed this morning in SODO, and Seattle Police are searching for the suspect. Someone driving northbound on 1st Ave struck and killed the man while he was biking near S Andover Street, just south of the West Seattle bridge viaduct.
The suspect then fled and is still on the loose. The victim died at the scene.
Seattle Police are investigating the fatal collision as a hit and run, but do not yet have a consistent description of the suspect or the suspect's vehicle to share. We will update this post when we learn more. UPDATE 11/22: Seattle police released this updated description of the suspect vehicle: "Detectives were able to confirm that the suspect vehicle is a Toyota Prius (not a Prius C, V, or other model) from model year 2010 to 2015. If you have any information on this vehicle, please contact TCIS Det. Sanders at (206) 684-8923."
Our deepest condolences to the man's friends and family.
The circumstances of the fatal collision and the victim's identity have not yet been released.
UPDATE 11/22: Detectives were able to confirm that the suspect vehicle is a Toyota Prius (not a Prius C, V, or other model) from model year 2010 to 2015. If you have any information on this vehicle, please contact TCIS Det. Sanders at (206) 684-8923.
UPDATE: Detectives are looking for a white or silver colored 4 door compact hatchback, very similar to a Toyota Prius. The vehicle will have obvious right front headlight area damage. Anyone with information on this vehicle is urged to contact SPD's Traffic Collision Investigation Squad at (206) 684-8923 and ask for Det. Sanders.
Detectives from the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) are currently investigating a fatal hit and run collision that killed a bicyclist early Tuesday morning in the SODO neighborhood.
At approximately 5:45 am, a 61- year- old male bicyclist was travelling on 1st Avenue South near S. Andover Street. According to witnesses, the driver of a vehicle, believed to be travelling northbound on 1st Avenue, struck the cyclist and then drove away northbound on 1st Avenue South. The cyclist was declared deceased at the scene. There were conflicting descriptions of the suspect vehicle, and detectives are working to get a better description of the vehicle involved.
1st Avenue South was closed in both directions while detectives processed the scene. This remains an active and on-going investigation. This information is preliminary and subject to change. We will update this post with any new information on this investigation.
1st Ave S is a very wide roadway marked only with sharrows. Despite its unfriendly design, 1st Ave S is often the only bike route option. The street was originally listed as a candidate for protected bike lanes in an early draft of the city's Bicycle Master Plan, but was later removed from the plan despite Seattle Bike Blog's protests.
The man's death comes just days after people across Seattle and the world memorialized people who have died in traffic as part of World Day of Remembrance. Neighbors and advocates for safe streets, led by Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, installed white silhouettes at the locations around the city where people died in traffic collisions: