A New Glarus mother is calling for better markings and warning lights at the Highway 69 bicycle trail crossing after her son was struck by a pickup truck there June 25. Village officials say they have also sought improvements for years, but work at the state-controlled crossing has been difficult to advance.

Diane Higbie said her son, Jason, was riding across Highway 69 from the veterinary clinic side toward Casey’s when a southbound pickup struck his bicycle’s rear tire. Jason was nearly across, she said, when he looked up and saw the approaching truck. The impact threw him off the bicycle.

Higbie was out of town when her son called to tell her what had happened. Police and an ambulance responded, she said, but Jason initially went home before a friend urged him to seek hospital care. He spent the night in the hospital and had a large leg contusion, scrapes and bruises. His leg bothered him for three to four weeks, and he found driving stressful afterward, she said.