Bicyclist hurt in crash with van on High School Road

A bicyclist was hurt Monday afternoon after he apparently rode into the back of a Ford E250 van that was stopped at the crosswalk near the Starbucks on High School Road.

The eastbound lane of High School Road was shut down for more than 30 minutes just before 2:30 p.m., after emergency crews arrived at the scene and began giving medical aid to the bicyclist.

Bainbridge police could not give any details on the crash, as it was still under investigation.

Police were interviewing the driver of the van and a co-worker who was a passenger, shortly after 3 p.m.

The bicyclist appeared to be in his late 20s.

The man sustained face and neck injuries, said Assistant Chief Luke Carpenter of the Bainbridge Island Fire Department, and his injuries were not life-threatening.

It appeared that the bicyclist struck the back of the van, and shattered the right rear window of the Ford when he hit it.

“The van stopped at the pedestrian crosswalk and the guy on the bike didn’t,” Carpenter said.

The bicyclist was wearing a helmet at the time.

The man was put on a stretcher and taken to a waiting medic unit for transport to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle; Carpenter said the department transports all trauma patients to Harborview.

Multiple Bainbridge fire and police units responded to the crash, including five police vehicles, two medic units, a Bainbridge Island Fire Department engine, and several other emergency units.

The crash attracted the attention of more than 30 youngsters, and a few older shoppers, who gathered along the back side of the Starbucks coffee shop and the pizza shop in the Island Shopping Center to watch emergency workers tend to the bicyclist as he lay in the street.

Bicyclist hurt in crash with van on High School Road
Bicyclist hurt in crash with van on High School Road