Second bicyclist killed in two days in Newport Beach

A female bicyclist was killed after a hit-and-run accident at about 9:45 a.m. Saturday on Newport Coast Drive between Ocean Vista and Vista Ridge drives, police said in a news release.

“A preliminary investigation revealed that a female bicyclist was riding northbound on Newport Coast Drive when she was struck from behind by a black pickup truck,” the release said. “The driver of the truck fled the scene without stopping to render aid and continued northbound on Newport Coast Drive.”

The bicyclist, a 57-year-old Irvine woman, was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later died from her injuries, the statement said. Her name was not released pending family notification.

Police are asking for the public’s help in finding the driver of the truck, which was described as a black full-sized pickup, possibly a 2001 to 2004 Toyota Tacoma. The truck has “significant damage to the right front area of the vehicle,” the statement said.

Anyone with information should call traffic investigator Eric Little at (949) 644-3746.

The incident is the second fatal crash where a truck struck a female cyclist in two days in Newport Beach.

Sarah Leaf, 29, was killed Friday morning when a truck making a right turn from East Coast Highway onto Bayside Drive struck her and drove over her.

Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman Kathy Lowe said the crashes were “a very tragic two days in Newport Beach.”

— Amy Senk