COEUR d'ALENE - A 58-year-old woman who was hit by an automobile while riding her bicycle Thursday was cited after the accident for not following proper riding rules.

Paula Airhart complained of pain in her neck, head, leg and shoulders and a laceration on her head following the accident at the intersection of U.S. 95 and Interstate 90, according to the Coeur d'Alene Police Department.

Airhart was taken to Kootenai Medical Center and treated and released.

She was also ticketed for riding her mountain bike on the wrong side of the road leading up to the crash.

"She's sore, and she's pissed she got a citation," Paula's son, Douglas Airhart, said. "There are many people who ride against traffic and nothing happens. An accident happens and she gets cited?"

According to Coeur d'Alene police, Paula Airhart was pedaling southbound on the east side of U.S. 95 - that is, riding into traffic - when she was struck by a 2005 Hyundai driven by Douglas Feil.

Feil had stopped at the red light and was beginning to turn northbound onto 95 from the westbound I-90 off ramp when he collided with Airhart, according to the report.

He said he didn't see Airhart as he pulled his vehicle into traffic.

"I still feel terrible that it happened," he told The Press Friday. "I feel really bad for her. My stomach is still in knots."

Feil was cited for not having current liability insurance, according to the police report.

After the accident, police took Paula Airhart's bicycle to her Coeur d'Alene residence while she was being treated. Douglas Airhart said his mom, who told police she had the right-of-way at the time of the accident, doesn't drive, and received the now-mangled bicycle as a Christmas gift.

"Bicyclists have the right-of-way," he said, adding they plan to fight the citation and are looking to hire an attorney. "They have the right-of-way, period."

Coeur d'Alene police issued three citations for bicycle riding infractions in 2011, according to its records department. Bicyclists should follow the same rules as motorists, according to city statute, which is what Airhart reportedly violated.

Bicyclists pedaling on the wrong side of the road are seven times more likely to be involved in an accident with an automobile, according to Monte McCully, city liaison to the committee.

They should travel in the same direction as traffic because motorists generally look in that direction when turning right to enter it, he said.