Bicyclist left sidewalk before fatal collision with pickup in South Anchorage, police say

A bicyclist veered off a sidewalk along a South Anchorage road before he was struck and killed Saturday night, Anchorage police said.

Thomas J. Sheppard, 39, was riding on the west sidewalk of Old Seward Highway just before 11 p.m., police wrote in an online statement.

“Some distance after riding past the intersection with Scooter Avenue, Sheppard rode off the sidewalk directly into the path of a GMC pickup traveling southbound on Old Seward,” police wrote.

The pickup struck Sheppard and he died at the scene, police said. The man driving the pickup stopped and called for help, police said.

[Anchorage pedestrians have been more likely to be killed by vehicles in the last 2 years. Why isn’t clear.]

Sheppard is the first bicyclist to die in an Anchorage collision this year. Ten pedestrians have died so far this year, according to police, making the year among the most deadly in the last decade.