COSTA MESA : Truck Fatally Hits Woman Bicyclist, 37

A 37-year-old woman on a bicycle was killed Friday by a truck that skidded into a crosswalk at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Merrimac Way.

The woman, whose name was not released, was crossing the street with her dog at 3:30 p.m. when the truck hit and threw her about 30 feet, witnesses said.

She was airlifted to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana where she was pronounced dead.

The 24-year-old truck driver was not cited and an investigation is continuing, police said.

“It appears that a red light violation by either the driver of the truck or the bicyclist was the reason for the accident,” Lt. Alan Kent said. “At this point, we aren’t prepared to say what happened because we are in the process of interviewing several witnesses.”

Maria Maples, a secretary at Johnson and Son Lincoln Mercury on Harbor Boulevard, said she saw the accident from her desk in the dealership’s showroom and immediately dialed 911.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Maples. “The driver just hit her head-on and she went flying through the air.”

Orange Coast College students Kimberly Harrison and Carl Hunter were waiting to turn left onto Merrimac Way when the accident occurred just a few feet away from their car.

“I was watching her as we were at the red light because I had been admiring her dog,” Harrison said. “He had been trotting right alongside of her as she was crossing another street in the intersection.”

Harrison and Hunter, who are enrolled in the college’s neuro-diagnostic program, jumped out of their car immediately after the accident and ran to help the woman.

“She had a slight pulse, and I was trying to tell her that help was on the way,” said Harrison. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jason Navas, 23, said he “saw her before the accident riding her bike looking happy with her dog. The truck missed the dog by inches.”

The dog, a Dalmatian, escaped injury and was taken to the Costa Mesa police station by city animal control workers, Kent said.

The northbound lanes of Harbor Boulevard were closed for two hours from Fair Drive to Merrimac Way for investigators. Southbound lanes were closed for approximately 20 minutes, Kent said.