Update: Bicyclist Hit By Car on Route 1 Has Died

Update, 4:20 p.m. May 7:

The bicyclist who was struck by a car on Route 1 this morning (Monday, May 7) has died from his injuries, Lawrence Township police have confirmed.

Aguedo Cruz, 59, of Trenton, suffered injuries to his head, arms and legs and was pronounced dead a short time after his arrival at the regional trauma unit at Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, according to Lt. Charles Edgar, police department spokesman.

The driver of the 2004 Pontiac Grand Am that struck Cruz’s bicycle was identified by Edgar as Frank Cochran, 59, of Lambertville. While Cochran was not physically injured in the collision, he was also transported by ambulance to the hospital as a precaution.

The circumstances of the accident remain under investigation by township police and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. Witnesses are asked to call police at (609) 896-1111.

Reported to police at 9:38 a.m., the accident happened along the northbound side of Route 1 between the entrance ramps and exit ramps for Interstate 295.

Arriving to find Cruz unconscious and unresponsive in the middle of the road, his mangled bicycle nearby, police quickly shut down the northbound side of Route 1.

Northbound traffic was detoured onto the interstate for about two hours until the police investigation at the scene was completed.

Edgar said police are still trying to determine why Cruz was riding a bicycle on Route 1.

“That is a very dangerous area to be riding a bicycle,” Edgar said. “It is extremely busy with traffic, particularly at the interchange with the interstate.  It’s an extremely dangerous area for anyone with a bicycle to be riding.”

He said the investigation is being led by Lawrence Township Police Officer Ronald Buchanan and Detective Todd Caruso, with the assistance of Detective Tony Abarno from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office Serious Collision Response Team.

Assisting police at the scene were ambulance crews from Lawrence and West Windsor, as well as Lawrence Township’s daytime duty crew of career firefighters.  

Original Story, posted 10:30 a.m. May 7:

A collision between a bicycle and a car has left the bicyclist with life-threatening injuries and forced police to shut the northbound lanes of Route 1 (Brunswick Pike) in Lawrence Township this morning (Monday, May 7).

The accident, reported to police at 9:38 a.m., happened along Route 1 North between the entrance ramps and exit ramps for Interstate 295.

Soon after arriving on the scene, police closed the road and diverted northbound traffic onto the interstate.

The bicyclist, suffering from head trauma and compound factures, was rushed to the regional trauma unit at Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton by a West Windsor Township ambulance.

Tentatively identified as a male in his late 50s, the bicyclist is “in very critical condition,” Lt. Charles Edgar, police spokesman, said at 10:15 a.m.

The driver of the car was also transported to the hospital by a Lawrence Township ambulance.

Township police and a detective from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office are currently investigating the crash.