Surprisingly High Incidence of Vehicular Negligence

When I moved to Florida about 4 months ago, I was initially very excited about my new cycling environment.  All new roads in the state of Florida, built with the help of State money, must have a bike lane.  The part of town that I live in is fairly new, and therefore has a vast network of these bike lanes.  I commented to all my friends back in Idaho, that this new home of mine was like heaven….the roads are all freshly paved (no more chipseal), roads all have bike lanes, and there is a bike shop across the street from my sub-division.

Then my notions of cycling utopia were shattered when I started to notice an alarming pattern emerge.  It seems that almost every Monday morning following a nice weekend of riding weather, I find a local news story about how a cyclist has been run over by a motorist.  I used to hear about these kinds of incidents from friends in California and really busy places, but living most recently in Rural North Idaho, I never experienced these issues first hand.

There have been 8 accidents involving cars veering into bike lanes and taking out cyclists within a 20 mile radius of my house since moving in less than four months ago.  For those of you who failed high school math more times than I did, that is 2 serious accidents (including 2 deaths) per month since moving here.  Three accidents have involved drunk drivers, two involved teenagers texting while driving, and two were because of unknown reasons.  Today I woke up to read the details of number eight (just 3 miles from my house).

 Newspaper Story:

St. Johns, Florida      Feb 2, 2009 A 57-year-old St. Johns County bicyclist was flown by helicopter to Shands Jacksonville on Sunday after being struck by a motorcycle on County Road 13 near Elkton, according to St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Chuck Mulligan. According to the accident report, a 2006 two-door silver Hyundai driven by Marcus Oakley, 61, of St. Johns County, was northbound on C.R. 13 when he came up behind the bicyclist who was also northbound. Oakley passed the bicyclist and was back in the northbound lane when a 2003 green-and-black Kawasaki came around the curve near County Road 305. The Kawasaki, driven by Lorenzo Johnson, 49, of Jacksonville, was traveling southbound at more than 90 mph, according to accident investigators. When the motorcyclist came around the curve, he saw the car passing and went over into the northbound lane. “When he hit the brakes it caused the cycle to go down and the driver lost control of the cycle. He separated from the cycle, which continued to travel into the path of the bicyclist,” Mulligan said. Investigators measured 762 feet of skid marks prior to the cycle hitting the bicyclist, he said. The bicyclist had leg injuries as well as other trauma factors, Mulligan said. A witness said the crash severed the bicycle and half of it ended up in a tree. Johnson was cited for willful wanton reckless driving, Mulligan said. No charges are planned against the Hyundai driver or the bicyclist.

2 February 2009 | Uncategorized | Comments