There are bicycles everywhere this week, and apparently many with people who seem like they have never been on a bicycle nor crossed a road before. It is getting to be dangerous. Yesterday, I was in the back part of WaterColor and came across a group of 20+ kids on bikes, parked in the middle of the road. They would not move, and more kept crossing the road in front of the vehicle ahead of me. They seem to hug the center line and play chicken with on coming cars. The smaller kids on bikes have a tendency to look over their left shoulder when they hear a car coming behind them, and when they turn their head, the handlebars turn with them, pulling them into the center of the road. Be careful, both auto drivers and bicycle riders!
This morning, I was walking down the sidewald in Seagrove, just west of 395. A group of people were trying to repair a bicycle so I offered assistance and learned that the bicycle rider was ran off the road by a driver who was texting. The front fork of the bike was bent enough that it was inoperable.
Then, this afternoon, I, too came across the truck and bike in front of One Seagrove Place. I was about 30 cars back in stopped traffic. As I approached the scene, I could hear a group of kids who were leaving the scene saying something like, "and they were in the crosswalk, too."
There is a crosswalk near there, but the bicycle which was still in the road when I passed around the detour, was not near the crosswalk. Maybe the bike was pulled by the truck when they hit. I'm not sure. By the time I approached the scene, there were only two sheriff's deputy cars on scene, so I believe paramedics had already left the scene. A large delivery truck and bicycle were left in the west bound lane and a small SUV was somewhat still in the road in the east bound lane. I'm not sure which vehicle(s) were involved. One may have been assisting on the scene. As I left the scene, another Sheriff's deputy came by, and once on 395, a state trooper came flying by. Typically, state troopers only show up for investigation when something really bad happens. Anytime a truck and bicycle collide it is going to be serious. Let's hope for the best and remember to put on our thinking and awareness caps regardless if we are on foot, bicycle, low-speed vehicle or regular automobile. Brush up on the basic rules of the road if you don't know them. Don't ride your bicycles through cross walks. Get off and push, until you get to the other side.