17th Cyclist Killed In Tampa Bay/Manatee

[Tourista829]

Westinghouse, you are right, I forgot about the tour bus. I think what bothers me the most, is that you can hit a pedestrian or cyclist, down here and unless you are under the influence, you will not be charged.
It is ashame, with all the good weather we have, it should be a bicycling paradise. Mr. Bent, if you ride a recumbent, simply put, I wouldn't, in Florida.

[Westinghouse]

Westinghouse, you are right, I forgot about the tour bus. I think what bothers me the most, is that you can hit a pedestrian or cyclist, down here and unless you are under the influence, you will not be charged.
It is ashame, with all the good weather we have, it should be a bicycling paradise. Mr. Bent, if you ride a recumbent, simply put, I wouldn't, in Florida.

It happens. The fact is, of the top 50 countries of the world the USA does not rank in the top 20. There are many reasons for this including cancer rates, overall health, infant mortality rates, percentage of population in the criminal justice system, crime and murder and violent-crime rates, healthcare, education, justice and equality before the law, equal rights and opportunities, corruption, and a lot of other matters such as one we mention here.

I have been to quite a few countries where life-in-general is quite a bit better overall than life in the USA.  Even where I am abroad now where social unrest and violence might possibly force us all to evacuate, the overall quality of life is better than in the United States. This better quality of life has held true in most all foreign countries I  have lived and worked in, and, whatever problems did develop were usually always the result of people from the USA.

I might add, most people seem to think their own country is the best. Even people from poor, forlorn, backwards, corrupt Ukraine in 1994 told me their own country was the best country in the world. Patriotic pride is  a reinforced emotionalism in most all countries, and it has its uses and purposes and advantages, and that is one thing, but objective truth should be based on concrete realities pertaining to matters that raise or lower the quality of life in the real and the tangible. My ancestors founded the USA. However, enough is enough. I am out of there. I will be advising my children to emmigrate to Canada or Western Europe when they get old enough.

[pptouring]

not to beat a dead horse, but another person was killed last night in St. Pete while riding a bike. 

However, I would like to say that my wife and I have been doing a lot of riding in the Northern part of the state lately and the driving habits of the good people up there are 180° different that what we have down here around the Tampa Bay area. We've experienced nothing but very polite, courteous, and extremely patient drivers. We actually felt as though we were back in Europe cycling to be quite honest with you. So with that being said, don't go all negative on Florida, it's a beautiful state and has some great cycling areas.

 

[Tourista829]

Ron I agree with you. I took a mini tour, last summer, from Tampa to St. Augustine and I agree with you 100%. People were nice and courtious and curious. Even the paper mill trucks, barreling down US19 did well. Their coming from behind was a welcome breeze, on a hot summers day. As you know, I am normally a positive person. I try to look on the positive side of things, but the statistics and the attitude of the authorities, in the Tampa Bay Area are troubling.

[Westinghouse]

The fact is this is a dangerous and uncertain world and it always has been that way. There are no absolute guarantees in life. There might have been a cyclist sitting and having a meal in New Zealand thinking everything was safe and beautiful, and  then the earthquake struck, also Japan, Indonesia 7 years ago with 250,000 suddenly killed. People die unexpectedly every minute of every day all around the world. It is a constant fact of life and death. The optimist takes the view that such calamites will befall the other guy, but not himself. However, to everybody else on the planet the optimist is the other guy too. We are all the other guys / gals that can meet sudden death. Cycling is one way accidents can happen. Of that there is no doubt. Being vigilant and watchful, and internalizing safe cycling procedures can go a long way toward keeping yourself safe.

This is not to revel in the negative. It takes only one drunken person to end your life or ruin it to where life is worse than death.

Also, when motorists push through your legal ROW with the obvious attitude of get out of the way or die, you have to come to some kind of realization of how extremely belligerent, criminal and offensive that really is. If you were cycling down a sidewalk and someone was there swinging an axe back and forth and said you had to stop or go around him or lose your life, what would you think? That would be criminal, right? But, people can do essentially the same thing with their cars and trucks, and that is supposed to be acceptable. This is not a perfect world, OK? Despite the image people from la la land need to project, there is a whole lot wrong out there, and riding a bicycle does not make it go away.  I personally think that maps from ACA would tip the odds more in your favor if you use them on long or short tours by bicycle.

[Tourista829]

Westinghouse, I do agree with you, you have to be thankful for every day, because life, like cycling one never knows what is around the next corner. However, Tampa is my home and I shouldn't have to leave the area to feel safe to ride. I want to be able to commute to work and do my shopping on my bicycle. There are those who just say move. It is not alway so easy to just pick up, find a new job, and pay for the cost of a move. I also agree with you that the easiest way to get away with a homocide, is to run a bicyclist or a pedestrian over and say you never saw them. They never saw them because they have too much going on in their car and on their minds. Sometimes you have to vent, other times you have to act, and finally if all else fails move.

[Westinghouse]

Westinghouse, I do agree with you, you have to be thankful for every day, because life, like cycling one never knows what is around the next corner. However, Tampa is my home and I shouldn't have to leave the area to feel safe to ride. I want to be able to commute to work and do my shopping on my bicycle. There are those who just say move. It is not alway so easy to just pick up, find a new job, and pay for the cost of a move. I also agree with you that the easiest way to get away with a homocide, is to run a bicyclist or a pedestrian over and say you never saw them. They never saw them because they have too much going on in their car and on their minds. Sometimes you have to vent, other times you have to act, and finally if all else fails move.

 

They SAY they didn't see the person on the bike; however, that is not always the truth. They did see, but there is also an animal mind that told them it was only a person on a bicycle, and that did not pose the same deterrent as colliding with another car or truck.  In other words, if you hit him / her and the bike it will not harm you in the least.
Also, "I didn't see him" helps get the offender off the hook. I do not automatically assume that any stranger necessarily has good intentions either underlying, overt, stated, unstated, or otherwise.

Of course, there are legitimate accidents, but I am sure some that are called accidents are not really exactly accidents.

With that said, if I have the time and the money to do another long tour, I will most likely do it. I am not going to stay at home and hide under the bed.

[Westinghouse]

not to beat a dead horse, but another person was killed last night in St. Pete while riding a bike. 

However, I would like to say that my wife and I have been doing a lot of riding in the Northern part of the state lately and the driving habits of the good people up there are 180° different that what we have down here around the Tampa Bay area. We've experienced nothing but very polite, courteous, and extremely patient drivers. We actually felt as though we were back in Europe cycling to be quite honest with you. So with that being said, don't go all negative on Florida, it's a beautiful state and has some great cycling areas. 

I have done highway 90 twice in north Florida, 98 perhaps twice or three times, and another E-W / W-E road between 90 and 98. No problem whatsoever that I can remember, except for one person throwing a can of beer at me from a moving car. I believe that might have been Eileen Wuornos, and that was a long time ago on 98 between Perry and Wakulla Station, actually a short distance from where the Saint Marx bike-hike trail meets highway 98.

There is a stretch of highway 27 in south Florida / mid Florida that I would recommend to my worst enemy for cycling in winter.

[tonythomson]

I'm from UK and always look forward to riding in USA, 99.99% positive and particularly Florida where I spend a lot of time.

I've found the same attitude in a minority of motorists all over the world.

Err who is Eileen Wuornos ? A disgruntled lover 

[Westinghouse]

I'm from UK and always look forward to riding in USA, 99.99% positive and particularly Florida where I spend a lot of time.

I've found the same attitude in a minority of motorists all over the world.

Err who is Eileen Wuornos ? A disgruntled lover 

A disgruntled lover? No, thank god! She was a serial murderer. There is a movie about her titled. "Monster."
I think I spelled the name right. Google the name. It's there. Florida gave her a lethal injection. She did not exactly get a fair trial. A guy she killed in self defense had done serious prison time in another state for abducting and assaulting and battering women and raping them. The fact that guy had been convicted of what she was defending herself against was not brought in as evidence in court. I was cycling from Woodville, Florida to Stuart, Florida at the time.

[Westinghouse]

Westinghouse, I do agree with you, you have to be thankful for every day, because life, like cycling one never knows what is around the next corner. However, Tampa is my home and I shouldn't have to leave the area to feel safe to ride. I want to be able to commute to work and do my shopping on my bicycle. There are those who just say move. It is not alway so easy to just pick up, find a new job, and pay for the cost of a move. I also agree with you that the easiest way to get away with a homocide, is to run a bicyclist or a pedestrian over and say you never saw them. They never saw them because they have too much going on in their car and on their minds. Sometimes you have to vent, other times you have to act, and finally if all else fails move.

Moving can be much easier said than done. And there is no guarantee things will be much better somewhere else. There are matters such as a house if you are buying or have bought one. Then there is employment, and the move itself.

You just have to be careful. Taking out cyclists seems to have taken on the aspect of a sport around my hometown. Violation of cyclists' ROW there is normal. I ought to know. Nobody ever said this was a perfect world. However, the vast majority of the time while cycling cross country there is no problem of that kind.

[pptouring]

Another cyclist killed last night. 

[Tandem4Rider]

Sad news to hear of yet another cyclist killed on the road.  If I can offer any sense of balance to a seemingly unbalanced situation - on my ride to work this morning had an SUV not only slow down, but WAIT for me to move over to the shoulder while they were merging into the travel lane which I was moving.  It does happen from time to time, iti s rare, but it really sticks out when it happens.  I'm in Harford County, Maryland, by the way.  Typically motorists just ignore cyclists enough to leave us alone, but not to the point that I feel unsafe.  I wish the best to others out there.  Be safe.

[pptouring]

it appears that the last two fatalities were the fault of the cyclist. Riding at night with no lights, no reflective clothing, no helmet, and they pulled out in front of the vehicle.  

[Westinghouse]

Links? Verification? Where, when, how? I posted an article with reference when I posted about the cycling fatality in Vero Beach. Mine is checkable and verifiable, and yours are not, yet.