Virtually every day there are news reports touting the benefits of regular exercise to promote good health. Also each day, individuals in the state of Pennsylvania decide it is time to take control of their health and start an exercise program. For one Pittsburgh-area man, his exercising was paying off. After a daily bike ride over the course of the last two years, the diabetic had lost approximately 100 pounds.

Early one morning this past week, the 46-year-old man was out for his daily ride when he was struck by a car. The force of the impact caused the man to be thrown 6 feet from his bicycle. At the time of the accident he was riding along Penn Avenue and had just passed Penfield Court.

Though the incident occurred before sunrise, the man was reportedly doing what he could to be safe and make sure he could be seen. In addition to wearing a helmet, his bicycle also had been outfitted with reflectors, turn-signals and lights. Sadly, in the end these could not save him. The man was declared dead at UPMC hospital shortly after his arrival.

After the fatal accident, the vehicle that hit the cyclist, described as a white car, drove away. Individuals who witnessed the incident said the car was probably driving about 60 mph when it left the scene. The posted speed limit in the area is 35 mph.

There is currently no news on the driver of the car that struck the man. Once he or she is caught in addition to likely facing criminal charges, a civil lawsuit will probably filed as well. Anything recovered in the wrongful death lawsuit could help the 10-year-old daughter he left behind as she grows up without her father.

Source: Trib LIVE, "Pittsburgh hit-and-run crash kills bicyclist," Margaret Harding, July 25, 2012