• Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
New posts

beachmouse

Beach Fanatic
Dec 5, 2004
3,504
741
Bluewater Bay, FL
I know it's sounds fanciful, but why couldn't someone just build a bicycler's parkway, somewhere out in the state forests somewhere, so that these people wouldn't feel compelled to tempt fate by attempting to ride so close to huge metallic boxes travelling at almost 100 miles per hour.

It's one of the big uses of the rails-to-trails movement, which repurposes old railroad track and rightaway for public recreation. Unfortunately, the closest park like that to here runs north of Milton, FL.

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/guide/regions/panhandlewest/trails/black_heritage.htm
 

Waltonco.native

Beach Crab
Jul 5, 2011
1
0
Woodstock GA (for now)
We passed by just after the accident happened saturday morning, we were headed up to DeFuniak to get my dad to spend a day with us at the beach. 45 minutes later we are back to the macabe scene, with the white mens bike shoes still clipped to the pedals of the mangled bike and we knew the man must have died. A Mercedes and a van were parked on the inside lane and traffic was routed into the grassy medium. I will never again pass by a cyclist without thinking of the man that lost his life on 98. I know the young woman who hit this man is forever changed as well. Please, please cyclists: know hwy 98 is a very busy highway.
 

Lake View Too

SoWal Insider
Nov 16, 2008
6,862
8,297
Eastern Lake

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
Is building and maintaining a separate bike path on 98 something that the TDC is allowed to spend bed tax money on?

Sadly a separate path system is far more realistic than cars and bikes learning to co-exist like they do so many other places.
 

Minnie

Beach Fanatic
Dec 30, 2006
4,344
829
Memphis
I am confused about the newspaper report, it says the bicylist was on the shoulder and the driver was in the outside lane.

Isn't the shoulder on the right side of the highway and isn't the outside lane the left lane? Was he on the right or left side of the highway when hit?
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
No, the right hand lanes are the outside lane. The 2 left lanes are the inside lanes.

The shoulder/3' bike lane is on the outside of the outside lanes. R L median L R
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
Update

SANTA ROSA BEACH – No charges will be filed against the driver whose vehicle struck and killed an Atlanta cyclist on U.S. Highway 98 last summer.
The media release issued by the Florida Highway Patrol had listed charges as pending. But homicide investigators could not determine where Frankel’s bicycle was when the collision occurred.
There were no witnesses to the actual collision except for Alford, whose initial statement indicated that he had swerved out in front of her Mercedes Benz, according to Lt. Steve Preston, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol.
She refused to submit to a follow-up interview with the homicide investigator.
“She has a constitutional right not to submit to the interview and she chose not to,” Preston said. “During the course of the investigation it was determined she was not talking on her cell phone and she was not texting.”
Alcohol was not a factor in the crash, he said.
Preston said that neither independent witnesses nor the debris field gave investigators clear information about where the collision had occurred. There were no gouges or scuff marks on the pavement, either.
“We were unable to determine the point of the crash,” Preston said.
Florida law requires cyclist to ride as close to the righthand side of the lane as possible. They are not required to ride in the shoulder, Preston said.
Three motorists reported seeing Frankel riding in the middle of the through lane prior to the accident. One motorist told troopers he had yelled out the window, urging Frankel to move over.
Preston said his agency took their findings to the state attorney’s office, which agreed with the decision not to charge Alford.
 

tsutcli

Beach Fanatic
Jan 14, 2008
921
109
Seacrest
Sounds to me he got what he deserved. Anybody who rides a bike on 98 is stupid at best.
 

Joby

Beach Lover
May 12, 2010
192
52
Your insensitivity is incredible. A man is dead and his wife a widow through a tragic accident and you say he deserved it, where is your human compassion?
 
New posts


Sign Up for SoWal Newsletter