Bicyclist injured when hit by car on Lamar Alexander Parkway
From Staff Reports
A Knoxville man was injured Thursday when his bicycle was hit by a car on East Lamar Alexander Parkway at Walland.
A black Mustang driven by Bill Knight, Faithway Drive, Walland, struck the bicyclist as the two traveled west on the Parkway at about 1:30 p.m., the Blount County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The cyclist, identified as Steven Ray Hancock, 53, then fell into a ditch off the road about halfway between the Walland Center and the turnoff to Foothills Parkway.
He wound up 25 to 30 feet off the road in the bushes, estimated Blount County Fire Department Lieutenant Johnny Leatherwood. The bike was lying at the edge of the state right of way and the man was about 10 feet farther in the bushes, he said.
The victim, who reportedly suffered two compound fractures and a back injury, was conscious following the accident.
Rural-Metro Ambulance Service personnel placed the man in an ambulance while waiting for Lifestar to arrive to take him to University of Tennessee Medical Center. When they removed the stretcher from the ambulance for transport to Lifestar, he was holding a red and black bicycle helmet on his stomach.
Knight told police another vehicle passed him in the left lane, leaving him unable to move over.
Police cited Knight with disobeying the three-feet bicycle law and no proof of insurance.
UT Medical Center staff reported that Hancock was listed in guarded condition Thursday night, stating his injuries were not serious or critical, but that he was not stable, either.
The location was where a motorcyclist was killed in a wreck a few years ago, according to sheriff’s office personnel.
