UPDATE: Westbound Spokane St. clear after bicyclist and semi-truck driver collide

3:32 PM: If you are headed toward the West Seattle low bridge or Harbor Island, note that westbound Spokane Street is reported to be blocked at East Marginal Way right now for an emergency response. A bicyclist is reported to have been “sideswiped” by a semi-truck driver. Medics have told dispatch that the rider is “alert and conscious.”

3:51 PM: SDOT traffic control says the scene has cleared. We’ll follow up with SFD on the rider’s condition.

6:22 PM: SFD’s response to our inquiry: “Crews treated a 37-year-old male who is in stable condition. Paramedics transported him to Harborview. Reported as a bicyclist collision into a moving semi-truck towing a trailer.”

flimflam May 15, 2023 (4:07 pm)

Yikes. Terrifying to imagine.

East Coast Cynic May 15, 2023 (4:11 pm)

Reason number 101 why I will never ride a bike on the streets of Seattle. The side swiping of bikers happens way too often.

Jay May 15, 2023 (6:50 pm)

It’s terrifying, but honestly I’ve had as many close calls walking as I have biking. It’s a madhouse full of careless and enraged drivers who think that cars are the only way that people should be allowed to move through our city.
- flimflam May 15, 2023 (7:35 pm)
  
  I honestly felt safer before “road diets” and unprotected bike lanes. In many areas, say Nickerson ave, I could bike in the far right lane and cars could easily go around me or buses, etc…
  - K May 15, 2023 (8:34 pm)
    
    They really need to just get rid of street parking and add protected bike lanes.
  - Jay May 15, 2023 (11:47 pm)
    
    Yeah, the road diets were very poorly done. On Delridge, medians were installed instead of bike lane. And the curb bulbs push bikes into high speed traffic at intersections. I used to ride Delridge but now it’s way too dangerous.
- Gaslit May 16, 2023 (6:17 am)
  
  Except that none of that happened here. A cyclist and an 18 wheeler were involved. No cars, road rage or any other real details have been reported. Your narrative is loosely applied at best.

M May 15, 2023 (4:48 pm)

Thanks for inquiring about the cyclists condition, and would be interested to hear if any tickets were issued or charges will be filed against the driver, if allowable. Hoping the cyclist has very minor injuries.

WSB May 15, 2023 (6:27 pm)

That is often difficult to find out from SPD but I’ll ask tomorrow.
- J May 19, 2023 (9:08 pm)
  
  Hi, cyclist’s wife here. Thanks for the concern for his well being – he has serious injuries but survived, thank god. The driver was issued a ticket for disregard for bicyclist (don’t know much else about it). We were in the bike lane going slow along the curb and the driver took a tight right turn around him and took him out (and may I add never got out of his truck to check if he was ok). (Ps. Thanks for this blog – it’s a great resource)
  - WSB May 19, 2023 (9:31 pm)
    
    Thank you for the update. Wishing him thorough healing.

Ryan Packer May 15, 2023 (5:15 pm)

A pedestrian was hit by a driver on West Marginal Way SW less than thirty minutes prior to this incident on East Marginal as well.

WSB May 15, 2023 (6:26 pm)

I heard that but it stayed at ‘aid response’ level; I wrote about this one after it was increased to “med 6” level = TR

Peter May 15, 2023 (5:52 pm)

“A bicyclist is reported to have been ‘sideswiped’ by a semi-truck driver” instead of a “semi driver sideswiped a bicyclist.” As in almost all cases vehicular violence, the media uses the passive voice to imply it’s just a thing that happened rather than an act that the operator of a multi-ton vehicle is responsible for. .

WSB May 15, 2023 (6:21 pm)

Thanks for the attempt at constructive criticism, but no, the reason I wrote it that way is because the bicyclist was the more important person to make the subject of the sentence. If you want to criticize writing about incidents like this, the more problematic style is the prevalent one among my colleagues in news media, “a bicycle and truck collided” as if no people were involved. Meantime, adding info above from SFD. – TR
- J May 15, 2023 (7:53 pm)
  
  Perfectly put. Thanks for this and your vigilance to the correct language. The real once’s notice
- What'sUpWithWS May 15, 2023 (7:58 pm)
  
  But isn’t the heading: UPDATE: Westbound Spokane St. clear after bicyclist and semi-truck driver collide?
  
  Reminds me of “bird strikes” and airplanes. Who is colliding with who? I hope the bicyclist is okay.
22blades May 15, 2023 (11:18 pm)

Just stop…