One cyclist killed and several badly hurt in a weekend of crashes

The weekend just ended was marked in Switzerland by a series of serious accidents involving cyclists. Cantonal police forces reported several, spread across a number of cantons. In many cases the injured had to be flown to hospital by helicopter.

The gravest incident occurred today at midday in Troistorrents, in the Lower Valais. A cyclist riding correctly was hit by a motorcyclist who was overtaking her. The injuries she suffered in the collision were such that the woman died at the scene.

In the afternoon, at Gelterfingen in the canton of Bern, another cyclist was seriously injured in a collision with a van and taken to hospital. According to the Bern cantonal police, the circumstances are not yet clear.

Early this morning at Rapperswil-Jona, in the canton of St Gallen, a 43-year-old cyclist fell and was hurt badly enough to require a helicopter transfer. Yesterday a helicopter had already been called to Trogen, in Appenzell Outer Rhodes, where a racing cyclist was seriously injured in a collision with a car.

Also yesterday morning, at Hindelbank in the canton of Bern, another racing cyclist was involved in an accident with a car. According to the Bern cantonal police statement, the driver had strayed into the oncoming lane and struck the cyclist. At Unterbach, again in the canton of Bern, a cyclist was seriously injured in a fall with no one else involved and was flown to hospital by the Rega.

In some of the reported crashes, then, no other road user was involved. In others the cyclists collided with cars or motorcycles. The summer season brings large numbers of cyclists onto Swiss roads, both on leisure routes and on racing bikes, and this settled weekend coincided with the end of a week of extreme heat.