Electric bike rider killed after collision with ATV in suspected hit-and-run
Victim, said to be around 50, declared dead on the scene near Moshav Berekhya, close to Ashkelon
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A man was killed Friday while riding his electric bike in a suspected hit-and-run incident in the south of the country.
An eye-witness told paramedics that the man, said to be around 50-years-old, was hit by an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) before the driver fled the scene, the Walla news site reported.
The Magen David Adom emergency services said in a statement that when their team arrived near Moshav Berekhya, close to the coastal city of Ashkelon, the man was unconscious and had bruising to his upper body. He was declared dead on the scene.
Police said they have not yet located the driver or vehicle.
The government on Sunday approved a package of measures to improve bicycle safety, among them increased enforcement of existing laws and greater punishments for offenders.
The move came after the death of 17-year-old Ari Nesher, the son of acclaimed Israeli director Avi Nesher, who was seriously injured in a September 24 accident and succumbed to his wounds four days later.
Nesher’s death drew attention to safety concerns over electric bicycles, which have few regulations in Israel.
Prosecutors are reportedly preparing to indict Nesher’s teenage friend who was transporting the boy on his electric bicycle when a drunk driver ran into them.
Police have accused a 16-year-old teen, whose name has not been released, of carrying Nesher as a second passenger on the bike, swerving into the car’s path and riding without a helmet.
According to a Channel 10 news report Thursday, police wrapped up their investigation of the teen and handed it over to prosecutors, who told the network that as of now an indictment will be filed.
The report said it was unclear what the teenager would be charged with and that the indictment appeared to be aimed at sending a message to other youth not to break cycling laws.
Yitzhak Asefa, a soccer player on the Israel Premier League’s F.C. Ashdod team who drove into the teenagers, is likely to be charged with abandoning the scene of a crime and driving under the influence, according to the report.
Asefa, 20, allegedly fled the scene after the accident, which took place on Tel Aviv’s Rokach Boulevard. He was arrested shortly thereafter by police, who said his blood alcohol level was found to be five times the legal limit.
The Times of Israel Community.