Bicyclist in Anaheim Hit by Truck, Killed

A 20-year-old Anaheim woman bicycling on the wrong side of Ball Road died Tuesday after being struck by a truck exiting the Orange Freeway, police said.

The driver of the truck told police he never saw Monica Aimada-Martinez riding her blue mountain bike against the flow of traffic about 9 a.m. Monday until he felt his 10-wheel single tractor truck strike something as he tried to make a right turn, Anaheim Police Sgt. Ed Dougherty said.

The fatal crash snarled traffic in the area one mile north of Anaheim Stadium for several hours as police closed off the Ball Road freeway exits to focus their investigation on the crash site and clear the wreckage.

Police were still investigating Tuesday afternoon whether Martinez or the truck driver was violating the intersection’s traffic signals. But Dougherty took the opportunity to remind bicyclists to follow the rules of the road requiring them to ride with, not against, traffic.

“It’s unfortunate because all too often we see bicyclists who are on the wrong side of the road,” Dougherty said. “It may seem like an insignificant violation, but if you stop and assess the consequences, then it’s a lot more serious than it appears.”

The impact threw Martinez and crumpled her bicycle into a tangle of spokes and frame.

Martinez was rushed to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where she was pronounced dead shortly before 10 a.m. An autopsy will be performed today to determine the exact cause of death, but a spokesman for UCI Medical Center said Martinez died of full cardiac arrest before reaching the emergency room.

The truck diver’s company sent a representative to help calm the rattled employee and assist police with the investigation.

“I can only say that he was visibly shaken and very upset,” Dougherty said of the driver. “We did our best to try and calm him down; he was just pacing about and obviously upset, and understandably so.”

At least three witnesses have already helped police with their investigation. One of them, Dougherty said, was behind the truck when the driver was making the fatal turn off the southbound exit ramp. That witness said the truck was stopped at the red light and then proceeded to turn when the light was green, police said.

The driver was not cited.

Dougherty said that he doesn’t “anticipate anything at this point, but it may be premature to say that since we haven’t finished our investigation.”