A 67-year-old man died late Thursday night after an SUV knocked him off of his bicycle while he was stopped on Louisiana Highway 98 in Lafayette Parish.

State Police say troopers began investigating shortly after 11:30 PM after the fatal crash, which happened on LA 98 just west of LA 93. Investigators say the elderly man was stopped in the westbound lane on LA 98 and was facing east. The driver of the SUV was traveling west on LA 98 when the vehicle hit the bicyclist, causing him to be ejected. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lafayette Parish Coroner's Office.

This is the area near where west Lafayette Parish ends and east Acadia Parish begins as many people traveling from Lafayette take this back route to get to Rayne and other parts of Acadia Parish.

LA 98 at LA 93, google maps
LA 98 at LA 93, google maps
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The driver of the SUV was not injured and troopers say the motorist showed no signs of impairment. Routine toxicology samples were taken from both people as troopers continue to investigate.

Unfortunately, crashes involving bicycles are all too common in Louisiana. According to the Louisiana State University's Center for Analytics and Research, 532 people were either injured or killed in 638 crashes involving bicycles in the Bayou State in 2021 alone.

Louisiana state law requires every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway to ride as near to the right side of the roadway as possible," says a Louisiana State Police press release. "Additionally, state law requires bicycles to be equipped with reflectors as well as front and rear lights and for bicyclists to use these lights between sunset and sunrise.

With this latest incident, the fatal crash count for 2022 continues to climb for Troop I as troopers have investigated 26 fatal crashes resulting in 30 deaths.

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