See this news report…
I am a bicycle commuter in Philadelphia, but this traffic crash in Fort Lauderdale caught my attention because it’s close to a condominium that snow bird friends of mine own and use during winter weather. They invited me there this winter.
My sympathies for this biker and his friends and family. Are any of you on this sub from Fort Lauderdale? Are you familiar with that area? Would you ride your bike there? It’s hard to tell from this news report, but it looks like the unfortunate bike rider who died in this crash was at fault. Would you ride there? Seems like a dangerous road and intersection for bike riders. Should I stay away from there when I visit my friends?
by StanUrbanBikeRider
3 Comments
Florida has some great trails, but I would never ride on the streets there. Most dangerous state for cyclists for a reason
Damn, that’s lousy TV journalism.
That’s not a tractor-trailer, it’s a 10-wheel petroleum delivery truck.
We don’t use the word “accident” for bike crashes, because they all have root causes that aren’t random ( unless somebody got hit by a meteorite ).
This seems to be a classic right-hook crash.
The bridge, according to Google Maps, is a four-lane drawbridge with zero shoulders. The next bridges to that barrier island are about a mile north and a mile south, and look, from the aerial photos, like they have bike / pedestrian paths.
Shoulda? Woulda? Coulda? Biker take the lane. Trucker check mirrors. Local road maintenance people close both lanes and set up a detour. Who knows?
Condolences to the bikers’ family and the biking community in Ft. Lauderdale.
No more of this! Ride safely, friends.
I don’t know what happened here, but it reminds me of a case in (I think) Chicago where a young woman riding a rental bike was killed when she was hit by a truck that made a right turn. You don’t want to be on the right side of a vehicle, particularly a large truck, when entering an intersection, or really in any situation where they may make a right turn.
Trucks often move left to make a wide right turn. You don’t want to be in that space. In this case, the interviewee mentioned the right lane being closed. It’s possible the cyclist was in the closed lane. Either way, people in the right lane turning right are not expecting another vehicle on their right. If you’re going straight and a large truck makes a right turn into you, there’s a good chance you’ll end up under the wheels.