An oncoming motorist hit a Mississippi State student biking from the recycling center on April 7. Molly Hartzog, a sophomore English major from Byram is now recovering at home after several days in the hospital. The Starkville Police Department declined to release the driver’s name.
Hartzog and boyfriend Ryan Storment, a junior computer science major from Jackson, dropped off their recyclables at the center that Monday evening. While traveling west on Lynn Lane, Hartzog was struck by an eastbound car that made a left turn in front of her, Storment said.
He said they were riding at about 20 miles per hour and Hartzog did not have time to stop. The impact broke her bike in half.
Storment said he swerved and missed hitting the car by a few inches. When he found Hartzog she was conscious but had visible injuries.
“She was face down on the pavement and had a growing pool of blood under her face, so I turned her over,” Storment said. “She had teeth lying all over the pavement.”
She was transported to Oktibbeha County Hospital via ambulance. After a CAT scan revealed a small brain hemorrhage, she was airlifted to Jackson, he said.
Following multiple neurology tests in Jackson, doctors worked for three to four hours reconstructing and sewing up her face, he said.
Storment said Hartzog suffered multiple fractures to her face, lost and chipped many of her teeth and severely cracked her jaw, in addition to the brain hemorrhage,
Storment said she is unable to eat solid food for six weeks due to her nearly broken jaw. Doctors are waiting for her gums, jaw and mouth to heal before working on dental implants.
Molly Hartzog’s brother, junior mechanical engineering major Aaron Hartzog, said she went home Friday and continues to recover.
“She can stand up and walk around,” he said. “Neurologically, she should be fine.”
Storment said he hopes the accident will get the attention of drivers and bikers in the Starkville area.
“The lack of education is the reason why things are the way they are,” he said.
Aaron Hartzog said he has experienced harassment from motorists on and off campus.
“I know people are impatient and want to get around me; I can understand that to a point, but that doesn’t mean flicking trash and cigarette butts at me [is acceptable],” he said.
Storment said he thinks many do not realize that bikes are to operate the same way on the road as motorized vehicles.
“Bikes are supposed to drive like cars,” he said. “The law says that you have the same rights and responsibilities that cars do.”
Both Storment and Aaron Hartzog said it is illegal to bike on sidewalks.
“Bicycles belong on the road,” Aaron Hartzog said. “That’s why we have the university bike lane.”
The one exception to this rule is if a biker is traveling directly toward a bike rack at a reasonable speed, he said.
Storment said his advice to fellow bikers is to focus on safety and obey regulations and requirements for bikes.
He also said both he and Molly Hartzog exceeded the state law requiring bikers to have a set number of reflectors or lights on their bikes.
Storment said he wears a jacket and shoes with reflective piping and has an 800-candlepower head lamp and blinking taillight on his bike.
He said the trailer, which he attaches to his bike to carry various items, has three reflectors on it.
At the time of the accident, Molly Hartzog’s bike had a headlight similar to Storment’s and a blinking taillight.
Devon Brenner, president of Starkville in Motion, said drivers and bikers need to be educated on how to properly share the road.
“People on a bike have little or no protection for cars and that puts them in danger, especially on roads with no clear shoulder and when drivers are not paying attention,” Brenner said.