How to improve bike safety in the Port City

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — As Wilmington continues to grow more and more bikers are on the roads.

On Wednesday night a bicyclist was hit by a truck on 17th street.

On May 15th a 20-year old Megan McClellan was hit and killed on a different section of 17th street.

There were two fatal biking accidents that happened in less than 3 weeks of each other .

“There’s a man on 17th and Queen that just got ran over by a truck and he is losing consciousness,” an eye-witness that called 911 after the accident said.

“In light of the recent events it’s really important that we take a look at bicycle safety,” Dylan Lee, city spokesman said.

The city says the Gary-Shell Cross City Trail is supposed to be a safer way to get around on a bike.

“The city of Wilmington, everybody knows this is a busy place there’s a lot of traffic and our citizens told us for years that one of their concerns is that we do things to address bicycle and pedestrian safety,” Lee said.

Bike mechanic Jonathan Mincher thinks highly of the trail.

“Having the cross-city trail put in step a few years ago was one of the best things for Wilmington. Just allowing you to have those ways to ride safely whether your just leisure riding or getting somewhere and I would love for that to continue to increase,” said Mincher.

City spokesman Lee said they are doing their best to continue to make the roads safer.

“We want people to get out and use the bicycle facilities we have, but it’s really important to practice safety, you’ve got to be a defensive bicyclist and just be aware of traffic,” said Lee.

The identity of the bicyclist killed last night has still not been released nor have police released other details about the crash.