SWFBUD was saddened to hear about a motorist who drove into a bike lane and killed a bicyclist in St. Petersburg on Saturday. Read the Times story here. The usual "bicyclists shouldn't be on the road" comments follow the story.
Our local DOT district office in Tampa Bay hired an ad agency from Ybor City to show that bicyclists are to be blamed for causing car-bicycle crashes. Unfortunately, the DOT doesn't seem to acknowledge when drivers are to be blamed when killing bicyclists.
This St. Petersburg killing was a clear case where a motorist killed a bicyclist and should be blamed. SWFBUD supports safety programs teaching bicyclists to safely navigate the roads but where are the campaigns to teach motorists to safely share the roads with bicyclists?
2 comments:
Thanks for letting everyone know so they could defend via education.
Sadly, here's one more:
Plant City Bicyclist Dies After Being Hit By A Car
http://www.tampabay.com/news/briefs/plant-city-bicyclist-dies-after-being-hit-by-car/1225468
At this point it's anti 1 and pro 3.
The Florida Pedestrian Safety Plan was a study that found 37% of Floridians either cannot own or cannot operate a motor vehicle. The people, who think no one should bicycle, just don't get it.
As for the inevitable "a bicyclist gets killed every day in Florida", check out these numbers:
http://moxxiebike.org/2012/03/but-bicycling-is-really-dangerous-in-pinellas-county-right/
(Read all 3 Parts.)
Thanks,
Kimberly Cooper
I tried the Choose An Identity, but couldn't find an option that would accept my e-mail address.
Motorist Matthew E. Cook was charged in Saturday's St. Petersburg crash that killed bicyclist Kris Ann Jones.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/st-petersburg-driver-charged-in-saturday-crash-that-left-bicyclist-dead-in/1225526
"Cook was charged with DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, child abuse and DUI involving serious bodily injury. He was booked into the Pinellas County jail where he was being held without bail on Tuesday."
The story lists all Cook's behaviors that resulted in that load of charges being piled on him.
Thanks,
Kimberly Cooper
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