STONE HARBOR – A bicyclist who collided with a parked car’s door as it was being opened was to be transported by helicopter to the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s Trauma Center for treatment of a head injury, police said.

Police said the bicyclist, a 61-year-old woman from Virginia, was traveling south on Second Avenue at 120th Street Monday morning, Oct. 2, when an individual in a parked car she was passing began opening the door. The bicyclist caught the edge of the door, causing the rider to fall.

The bicyclist was not wearing a helmet and suffered a head injury, police said. Further details were unavailable; the incident remains under investigation.

New Jersey state law requires all bicyclists under the age of 17 to wear a safety helmet. In 2021 the Stone Harbor Council discussed a potential ordinance that would have required helmets for bicyclists of any age, but a legal review surfaced problems with a local ordinance that was at odds with state law and the ordinance was not introduced.

The ordinance discussed in 2021 followed a July accident in which a bicyclist died on a borough street.

Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.