Portola Valley, California — November 4, 2010
Police say bicyclist Lauren Perdriau Ward was killed Thursday afternoon when she collided with a semi near Portola Valley.
The California Highway Patrol reports that Ms. Ward, 47, was riding west along Alpine Road around 3:35 p.m. when her pink Trek bicycle was struck by the semi near the Interstate 280 north on-ramp. Early reports suggested that the bicyclist was caught in the undercarriage of the semi.
The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office was dispatched to the scene to identify the victim. The crash impeded traffic along Alpine Road for around two hours.
Investigators interviewed the trucker, Gabriel Manzur Vera, to determine the cause of the crash. Friends and family of Ms. Ward have been invited to sign her Lecacy.com guest book.
UPDATE: As of November 9, only three witnesses had come forward in the fatal collision, but none of them actually saw the crash.
UPDATE: The semi driver, Mr. Vera, has been connected to the death of cyclists in Santa Cruz and Portola and was also driving when a third fatal accident took place in 2003 in Moss Landing.
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