A Tehachapi, California resident suffered major injuries Saturday evening after the bicycle she was riding was struck by a Dodge pickup on County Road A3 near Mapes Road.
According to details released by the Susanville Office of the California Highway Patrol, 87-year old Litchfield resident Claude Gill was driving his 1993 Dodge 250 pickup at eastbound at around 50mph when he came up on a woman riding a mountain bike eastbound on A3 at an unknown speed.
The woman, who the CHP identified as 37-year old Breanna Zuffinetti, was riding her 1993 Talera Mountain Bike near the edge of the roadway.
Gill had dimmed his high-beam headlights earlier for oncoming traffic and had not turned them back to the high-beam settings.
Zuffinetti’s bicycle was equipped with a rear reflector but according to the CHP report it was obscured and the bike was not equipped with any other lighting. The report also points to the fact that she was not wearing light-colored clothing making her difficult to see.
Gill did not see the bicyclist and the front right of the his Dodge struck her rear tire, propelling her to the north shoulder of the road. She suffered a broken left ankle and abrasions to both elbows.
She was flown to Renown Medical Center for treatment of her injuries.
