Recent bicycle fatalities were preventable

Two recent bicycle fatalities could’ve been prevented if the roads where the victims were struck had been more accommodating to cyclists, local organization Bike Austin said Wednesday.

“Both of these crashes took place on major roadways with little or no accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians,” a statement from the organization said.

On Tuesday evening, a bicyclist who police have not yet identified died at South First and West Mary streets after he was hit by someone driving a car around 7:25 p.m., Austin police have said. There was also a car crash at that same location that morning.

On March 14, 53-year-old Charlie Bunton Jr. died after he was hit around 11:45 p.m. while riding his bicycle on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard just east of Springdale Road. The driver, Joshua Christopher Brosemer, 38, was arrested under suspicion of drunken driving, Austin police said.

In its statement, Bike Austin members expressed their condolences to the families of those killed and urged Austin officials to “hasten the build out of the Bicycle and Sidewalk master plans to prevent future tragedies.”