Police ID bicyclist who died after being hit by minivan in Warren County Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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>> THIS IS WLWT NEWS 5. LEADING THE WAY. COURTIS: A WOMAN HAS DIED AFTER POLICE SAY SHE CRASHED HER BICYCLE INTO A CAR IN WARREN COUNTY. GOOD EVENING. I’M COURTIS FULLER. MOLLIE: AND I’M MOLLIE LAIR. THE CRASH HAPPENED ON MORROW-ROSSBURG ROAD, NOT FAR FROM THE HARLAN TOWNSHIP FIREHOUSE. WLWT NEWS 5’S DAN GRIFFIN IS LIVE AT U.C. MEDICAL CENTER, WHERE THAT WOMAN WAS TAKEN AFTER THE CRASH. DA DAN: SHE WAS FLOWN HERE TO U.C. MEDICAL CENTER, BUT TOO HURT TO SURVIVE. THIS WHOLE THI IS DEVASTATING TO THE BICYCLING COMMUNITY. >> MY HEART GOES OUT TO HER FAMILY, YOU KNOW? SHE’S JUST OUT RIDING HER BIKE DOING WHAT SHE LOVES DAN: JUDI LOPRESTI HAS A PASSION FOR BIKING AS ONE OF THE OWNERS OF SPUN BICYCLES. THAT’S WHY HEARING A WOMAN DIED AFTER A CRASH INVOLVING A BICYCLE AND A CAR IS SO TOUGH. >> WHEN I LEAVE TO RIDE MY BIK TO WORK, MY HUSBAND SAYS TEXT ME WHEN YOU GET THERE AND HE DIDN’T USE TO BE LIKE THAT. HE DOESN’T LIKE ME RIDING ON THE ROADS SO MUCH ANYMORE. DAN: OHIO STATE TROOPERS SAY STEPHANIE VESPER FROM LOVELAND DIED TONIGHT AT UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL AFTER SHE LOST CONTROL OF HER BIKE, CROSSED THE CENTER LINE, AND WAS HIT BY A MINIVAN. THE CRASH HAPPENED ON MORROW ROSSBURG ROAD IN HARLAN TOWNSHIP JUST BEFORE 5:00 P.M. INVESTIGATORS SAY VESPER WAS ONE OF TWO BICYCLISTS THERE. STEVE MAGAS IS A BICYCLE ENTHUSIAST AND LAWYE HE SAYS OHIO SEES AN AVERAGE OF 1500 BIKE-CAR CRASHES ANNUALLY, AND THERE’S A SLIGHT UPWARD TREND IN FATALITIES. >> 1970‘S WAS THE MAX, THE 1980‘S WAS LESS, 1990‘S WAS A LITTLE LESS, 2000'S WERE A LITTLE LESS AND THEN AROUND 2008, 2009, WE STARTED SEEING AN UPTICK IN FATALITIES. DAN: AS TROOPERS RECONSTRUCT T SCENE, BOTH SAY IT’S A REMINDER OF HOW QUICKLY THINGS CAN GO WRONG. >> WHEN WE’RE INTERACTING WITH CARS, THERE’S A WHOLE ANOTHER DYNAMIC. THE CYCLIST LOSES THOSE BATTLES IF THERE’S AN INTERACTION BECAUSE THE CAR DRIVER NEVER GETS HUR DAN: TONIGHT, MANY IN THE BICYCLING COMMUNITY ARE MOURNING THIS LOSS. THEY ARE ALL TALKING ABOUT THIS CRASH, AND THINKING OF THE WOMAN’S FAMILY.

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