A cyclist was pronounced dead on the scene after he was struck by a car in North Charleston early Tuesday morning.
Thomas Anthony Washington, 60, died as a result of blunt trauma, according to the Charleston County Coroner’s Office.
[content-1]Authorities found Washington in the median after responding to the crash near the intersection of Rivers and McMillan avenues shortly before 2 a.m.
The cyclist was struck by an SUV traveling east on Rivers Avenue. He had veered into the driver’s lane, according to an email from North Charleston Police spokesman Spencer Pryor.
The department’s traffic unit is investigating the accident. No incident report was available as of Wednesday afternoon.
This is the latest serious accident involving cyclists or pedestrians in the Charleston area.
[content-4] Between 2009 and 2017, 30 percent of bike crashes in the state took place in Charleston, Berkeley, or Dorchester counties, according to a 2018 study commissioned by the Palmetto Cycling Coalition. Charleston County has the highest percentage of bike accidents at 23.4 percent.
Between 2011 and 2015, 26 pedestrians died in Charleston, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety. Columbia came in second with 23 and North Charleston came in third with 11.
An intensive expansion of public transit, stretching from Summerville into downtown Charleston, is planned along the busy Rivers Avenue corridor. Lowcountry Rapid Transit, as the project is known, is targeted for completion in 2025.
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