A teenage driver has been cited for a car versus bicycle crash last week that landed a Des Moines school teacher in the hospital. The crash happened at 8 p.m. last Friday. Polk County Sheriff’s Sergeant Jana Rooker says 17-year-old Maria Claussen of Elkhart was driving a car that struck a bicyclist, 42-year-old John Meyer of Ankeny.
“Both the bicycle and the car were eastbound. The car did come up on the bicyclist from behind and (Claussen) didn’t see the bicyclist,” Rooker said. Investigators learned Claussen was sending a text message at the time.
Claussen has been cited for use of an electronic communications device while driving and improperly overtaking a vehicle. Meyer is a special education teacher at Garton Elementary School in Des Moines.
He was taken to a hospital in critical condition the night of the crash, but was upgraded to fair condition by Monday.