Preston man killed while cycling near Newton

A Preston man was killed while cycling Saturday afternoon, when a car pulled in front of him. The crash occurred at 3:45 p.m. between Smithfield and Newton, along SR-218.

Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Lee Perry said Derek Steadman was traveling southbound, approaching 6400 North. At the same time, an older woman from Cache County was driving a Buick Lacrosse northbound. She told troopers she did not see the cyclist as she turned left onto 6400 North, in front of him.

Steadman was wearing a helmet. He hit the front corner of the passenger side of car and was killed instantly.

Perry said troopers believe the crash was a tragic accident, and the woman was in no way impaired or distracted.

“You need to realize that cyclists are out there and are hard to see,” Perry explained. “So, check more than once before you make those turns, especially in rural areas.”

Troopers had a difficult time identifying Steadman because he was not wearing any sort of identification. They later located his cellphone that had been thrown from the scene because of the force of impact.

“When we have people that go out bicycling, jogging, or doing other things by themselves especially, we just ask that they carry with them some sort of identification, either in a small pocket or there are things called life bands that they can put around their wrist or around their ankle. It can give us the important information that we need to know if something happens to them and they can’t talk to us.”

According to Steadman’s Facebook page, he studied at Utah State University and was the co-owner of Treasure Canyon Calcium Company.


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2 Comments

  • Stacie Steadman September 6, 2018 at 1:13 am Reply

    I am Derek’s wife. I read this article the day after he was killed, and it has been bothering me a little ever since because it seems to assign blame to my husband for not wearing ID. Let me make this clear: Derek had his unlocked cell phone in the back pocket of his jersey. That was his ID. He was wearing a helmet. He was wearing bright colors, his bike was bright blue, and it was a sunny afternoon. He shouldn’t have been “hard to see.” Ironically, he often told me that he thought as cyclists try to push a message for motorists to “share the road,” he felt cyclists also have an extra responsibility to ride in a way that is polite to motorists: to be visible, predictable, and to not obstruct traffic. He picked up the hobby in his teens and in 30 years of cycling had never had a serious injury: safety was important to him.
    Derek was only 45 when he was killed. We have 5 kids. He was the backbone of our business. He was recently called as a bishop at church. He was an uncommonly kind, intelligent, and gentle person. The kids and I are profoundly heartbroken at his loss.
    The message of this article should only be this: pay attention while driving. Derek was simply enjoying a bike ride on the back roads on a summer afternoon.

  • Kate B September 6, 2018 at 12:27 pm Reply

    I hope everyone takes Ms. Steadman’s gracious comment to heart. I thought it odd that the only “advice” the trooper and apparently the reporter had was directed at cyclists and joggers, when the vast majority of the time cyclists and pedestrians are doing everything right. What’s appropriate here and so very needed is a word of caution for the motorists. When we drive a vehicle, it’s our responsibility to pay attention and not do harm. Pedestrians and cyclists are everywhere.

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