Famous mama grizzly bear killed by car “stepped right out into the road” before collision, Wyoming officials say [Video]

The driver who struck and killed a famous grizzly bear south of Grand Teton National Park earlier this week was not speeding and the bear’s death was an accident, law enforcement officers said Friday.

The death of grizzly No. 399 on Tuesday night in the Snake River Canyon south of Jackson saddened tourists, wildlife biologists and amateur and professional photographers who for years studied and captured images of the bear and her many cubs and followed her comings and goings on social media sites.

“The bear stepped right out into the road,” Lincoln County Sheriff’s Patrol Lt. John Stetzenbach told the Jackson Hole News & Guide on Friday. The driver “was unable to brake in time to avoid the bear, and the collision occurred.”

He said the collision “truly was an accident” and that the driver was not speeding or distracted and was not cited. The Subaru that hit the bear had to be towed from the scene, Stetzenbach said.

He declined to …