Bikers - use the BIKE path!

[Bob]

Many moons ago, whilst in semi-attendance at UF, I had the misfortune of not seeing a biker and the resulting collision. I was driving up the hill, turning left at the old field house, when the next thing I knew, handlebars came through my windshield with a rider in fllight over my hood. It was well into dusk, with the street lights on. The biker was hauling down the hill with no light, and I never saw him coming. He actually inflicted much more damage to my Toyota, even though his bike looked like a pretzel. I'll never forget the hostile crowd around me accusing me of recklessness. Sometimes I think, bikers have to go the extra mile to be courteous and highly visible. The whole thing of bikers blowing through stop signs so as to not break momentum is not well thought out. It's what I watch for on 30A when the biker is up on the main road surface. I wish the tension between bikers and car operators could be eliminated. Then I could rant about Harley owners.

 

[scooterbug44]

One day my father was running errands in my mother's car and heard a thump!
A girl on a bike had run into the side of the car (a little Subaru hatchback).

He called the cops, despite her protests, who then ticketed the girl for operating illegally on a commercial sidewalk and noted in their report that she admitted her brakes didn't work so she couldn't stop.

Several hours later he got a call from his insurance company because she had filed a claim against HIM!

He told the insurance company that 1) she was in the wrong per the police report 2) if they settled he was getting a new insurance company.

And that is why you ALWAYS call the cops, even for a minor accident!

 

[Smiling JOe]

I think the traffic speed on 98 is a bit high for bikers,

That is right.

 

[NoHall]

That is right.

SIDE A: 'Kay. So I don't live down there, but this year was the first year in a long, long time that I didn't do a lot of extensive bike-riding on 30-A.

I rode the path. I left Gulf Trace and go east to the far side of Seagrove on the path/sidewalk, or I went west to where the path ended (before they extended it.) If I was feeling spunky, I went a little further on the right side of the road, obeying traffic laws. If a car was trying to get around me, I went as far over as I could without risking injury to myself.

If I came upon a walker/jogger/toddler on a trike who was going slower than I was, I told them that I was passing on the left. Then I moved to the right. I was burning calories and sightseeing, not training for the Tour de Georgia, though.

I never had a single, solitary problem with it. (Actually, yes I did. A couple of years ago in Watercolor, I let the front tire go off the sidewalk and I went down like a ton of bricks. Pure klutziness.)

SIDE B: I've been vacationing in SoWal for the last dozen years. If I'm in a hurry to get somewhere in my car, I stay on 30-A for as short a distance as possible. After all, it's a scenic route. Lots of bikers, pedestrians, dogs, small children, and people who aren't quite sure where they are or how much they actually drank recently.

SUMMARY: I would probably see things differently if I lived there full-time, but from here I'm siding with the "chillax" crowd. 98 will get you there in a hurry. 30-A should be friendly to road bikers (who should be courteous), path bikers, skaters, walkers, joggers, unicycle clowns, people on jwarnky skateboards, and the occaisional marathoner...

 

[Smiling JOe]

I just had an idea. Drivers who are in a hurry, could drive on Hwy 98 rather than 30A.

 

[NoHall]

I just had an idea. Drivers who are in a hurry, could drive on Hwy 98 rather than 30A.

Seems simple enough to this tourist!

 

[fisher]

Seems simple enough to this tourist!

Due to heavy traffic on 30A, I decided to try riding on the bike path through Seagrove rather than on 30A as I do when traffic is light. I've never come close to being hit on 30A except for the time I was in a hurry and blew through a stop sign and was almost hit (stupid me). However, while on the bike path going west, a truck pulled out in front of me and missed me by a fraction of an inch. People pulling out of driveways on the southside of 30A and making right hand turns typically don't look to their right (FOR BIKERS, RUNNERS, ETC) before turning making collisions with serious bikers on the path a major issue. I'll stick to the road as it is the best place and safest place to ride.

 

[NoHall]

Due to heavy traffic on 30A, I decided to try riding on the bike path through Seagrove rather than on 30A as I do when traffic is light. I've never come close to being hit on 30A except for the time I was in a hurry and blew through a stop sign and was almost hit (stupid me). However, while on the bike path going west, a truck pulled out in front of me and missed me by a fraction of an inch. People pulling out of driveways on the southside of 30A and making right hand turns typically don't look to their right (FOR BIKERS, RUNNERS, ETC) before turning making collisions with serious bikers on the path a major issue. I'll stick to the road as it is the best place and safest place to ride.

Although the rules of the road state that bicycles have the right of way to motorized vehicles, and pedestrians have the right of way to everybody else (assuming in both cases that bikes and pedestrians are following the rules, too) I learned on a motorcycle that I should always assume that every other vehicle is out to get me.

It's a good rule on a bicycle, too--assume that they don't see you, they won't stop for you, and they might hit you.

 

[RiverOtter]

One time I was driving in my car and some rude person in another CAR ran a stop sign and hit me. If they had been obeying the traffic rules that would not have happened.

Another time I was driving in my car and a rude person made a u turn right in front of me and I hit him. If he would have been obeying the traffic rules I would not have hit him.

Sound familiar

 

[kathydwells]

I am curious. Is there a way to find out how many bike/car accidents occur on 30-A? I mean, is there any way locally to get statistics of these accidents, and how often they occur?

Bikers don't bother me, I just try my best to slow down and watch out for them, as well as pedestrians.