2 Peru crashes involving bicycles lead to injuries

Peru police are investigating two separate traffic crashes Friday involving motor vehicles and bicyclists, one of them an electric operated unit and the other a gas powered unit.

An initial investigation by Peru police indicates a 26-year-old man operating an electric bicycle entered the intersection of First and Pike streets at about noon Friday after he failed to yield to an oncoming vehicle driven by a 36-year-old woman, according to Police Lt. Art Smith. That led the two units to collide. The man was taken to OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa.

Then at 3:51 p.m. Friday at the intersection of Route 251 and May Road, just north of Interstate 80, a crash occurred between a vehicle driven by a 22-year-old woman and a gas-powered bicycle ridden by a 51-year-old man. Smith said the bicyclist turned in front of the oncoming car in the intersection, leading to the collision. The man was taken to Illinois Valley Regional Airport where an OSF Life Flight helicopter is based and flown to OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

Peru police said more information on both crashes will be released after the investigations are completed.