A 34 year old Amherst woman is dead after a car hits her just yards away from the flagship UMass campus.

Amherst police say the accident happened on University Drive in front of The Hangar restaurant at 10:30 Monday morning.

"The bike tire was all mangled up," says witness, Catrina Blake.

For hours, police had the gateway to the campus blocked as they investigated and cleaned up any traces of the fatal accident.

Police say the victim was riding her bike on University Drive when she was hit. She was taken to Cooley Dickinson where she later died.

"I got good markings. People aren't looking. I'll pull out. Someone will be right in front of me and then just take off," says Amherst biker Jonathan Moore, as he shows off his bike scars. All of them are from accidents on the roads.

"I even get tapped or if I go out of control, and I can't get my feet out of the way, I'm going down as soon as I hit the curb or the car. I've gone down about three times in this weekend alone," Moore says.

Narrow roads and heavy traffic make for a bad combination for many bikers.

"You're secondary to cars I think. Sometimes they don't pay attention to you," bicyclist Chris Moulton says.

But even the most aware drivers say it's not always their fault.

"You have to slow down because they're hogging the road. There's oncoming traffic that way. When they turn sometimes, you have to be aware," says Hadley driver Michael Maagero.

Drivers and bikers agree that awareness on both sides is key.

"That's the mindset you have to have on a bicycle all the time. You're going to lose if you go head to head with a car," says Andrew Cerow.

The victim's name isn't being released until her family is notified.

No arrests have been made in the crash as Amherst Police continue to investigate.