A 65-year-old Crystal River man riding an electric bicycle was killed Tuesday afternoon after losing control of his E-bike and tumbling into the path of a moving tractor-trailer.
The fatal crash occurred at about 2 p.m. on County Road 48 in Sumter County. According to an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol, the bicyclist was operating his E-bike eastbound along the south shoulder of the roadway, just east of County Road 575 near Bushnell.
At the same time, a tractor-trailer driven by a 70-year-old Valdosta, Georgia, man was also traveling eastbound on County Road 48.
As the massive truck approached from behind, the bicyclist suddenly lost control of his motorized E-bike. The electric bicycle overturned, throwing the rider directly into the eastbound lane of the roadway where he was immediately struck by the passing tractor-trailer.
The E-bike rider suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.