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Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,891
9,663
"Never trust a car"

That was the best advice I ever got about riding a bike.

Gidget, more power to you, and keep wearing that helmet.
 

DuneLaker

Beach Fanatic
Mar 1, 2008
2,644
521
Eastern Lake Est., SoWal, FL
It was a very busy day on the road and bike path. I usually just take my walks on the beach, but made a broader sweep yesterday and went up to the bike path and crossed the new bike bridge over the lake for the first time. The bike path was busy and I had to remember to hug the right edge. Bikes were zooming up quietly from behind and one had to be aware. I saw a group of 10 kids on skate boards and bikes coming up from the beach neighborhoods approaching the bike path and I thought, oh be careful. Around 2 p.m. I had to make a trip down 30A and it was busier than it had been. A few alternate routes around sections of 30A may have to be considered sooner rather than later.
 
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Gidget

Beach Fanatic
May 27, 2009
2,469
636
Blue Mtn Beach!!
I heard that the child died..

:sosad:

Oh no!

TRAGIC!

And I agree with goodwitch
I am going to stay off 30A as much as possible until September.
I am going to TIME my time on the path and driving/running/walking until fall. I don't want to be part of the circus if I can help it. These happy go lucky vacationers come here and like I said it is "Pleasure Isle" where the last thing they think about are "rules" and "restrictions". They aren't even on bikes any other time of the year probably.

I'm going to go think about something else.

G
EDIT: I know this sounds like I've been here forever, but actually I have been a tourist for over 20 yrs so I can identify with the mentality. (but I'm always paranoid about bikes/cars as I had a dear grammar school friend killed when crossing street and my parents TOOK my bike from me) Maybe vacationers need to have to watch a 3 min. video prior to renting the bike, IDK....
 
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grace

Beach Fanatic
Jul 19, 2007
503
56
here & now
praying for both the boy and the driver of the truck. my brother was in the east bound lane and saw it all go down. the boy darted out in front of the truck. there was no way he could avoid him. and to clarify, he was not in the crosswalk. so sad for all involved.
 

Valerie L

Beach Lover
Jan 31, 2007
113
20
Seacrest Beach
This is so awful all the way around. I'm often afraid to leave work in Seaside during the season due to bad biking practices as well as those who walk around or running out in the roadways as if it's a wide open park in the big city. I have noticed the art of teaching children is lost in most of our society today (I say most, but not all).
One night, there were a group of kids on bikes, teens, at the 3 way stop in Seaside, taking up the whole right side of the exit, by the stop sign. I stopped, waiting for them to move, and they didn't, but they waved me by expecting me to go into the oncoming traffic side of the road. I rolled down my window and asked them to move so I could drive. They told me to go around.
The rest of the story isn't the point (although I was polite and I could see some of the kids were raised well, others not so well). I did get around on my side of the road. Most of our visitors think and are teaching the next generation that the world revolves around them.

It used to be that there were biking rules, just like driving rules. Using hand signals, stopping at stop signs, walking the bike across any road, etc. I remember my mom getting a handout at the beginning of biking season and going over the rules with me and my sister. We even had to show her our hand signals before we were allowed to ride down the road to our friend's house. I showed my kids this. Passing on the safety rules of biking just as I would pass on nutrition, exercise, rest, life lessons. Then I pray they take heed.

My heart breaks for that mama today.
 

tsutcli

Beach Fanatic
Jan 14, 2008
921
109
Seacrest
And yet the county continues to approve projects , like Veridien, which will contribute more tourons to the masses already here. Don't they have to do a traffic study when these projects are approved?
There was an accident in Watercolor the other day between a bicyclist and a maintenance vehicle. Nobody hurt except bike and yet the number of kids that are traveling in WC is unbelievable. A mass of them had blocked the east entrance to the hotel the other nite and wouldn't move to let cars in. Had to call security. It's truly horrible this year and people continue to press for even more. STUPID.
 

lerxst

Beach Fanatic
Jul 24, 2008
288
101
Vacation State of Mind

Laurence Gonzales in His book Everyday Survival, Why Smart Do Stupid Things, writes about this condition "where all the old rules are suspended" for those on vacation often resulting in senseless accidents and injures. I don't know the details of the accident with the cyclist and the driver and I hope and pray that there are no lasting injures, but I have witnessed adults and children with "suspended rules" of safety lately all around town; people walking around aimlessly in right-of-ways, drivers speeding down 30-a etc.
We who live here need to be aware that the "vacation state of mind" is real condition that clouds judgment.
Drive carefully.
 

Miss Critter

Beach Fanatic
Mar 8, 2008
3,416
2,116
My perfect beach
Laurence Gonzales in His book Everyday Survival, Why Smart Do Stupid Things, writes about this condition "where all the old rules are suspended" for those on vacation often resulting in senseless accidents and injures. I don't know the details of the accident with the cyclist and the driver and I hope and pray that there are no lasting injures, but I have witnessed adults and children with "suspended rules" of safety lately all around town; people walking around aimlessly in right-of-ways, drivers speeding down 30-a etc.
We who live here need to be aware that the "vacation state of mind" is real condition that clouds judgment.
Drive carefully.

I am so glad you posted this, as I've long felt - as other residents of vacation destinations do, no doubt - that visitors leave their common sense at home. It's as if the universal laws of physics don't apply on vacation. Can you imagine what Disney has to deal with? Although to their credit, there's little driving by tourists anywhere on the resort. I will check out that book.

My heart aches for that child's family, and I pray he recovers fully. And I pray for the driver of that that truck, who is dealing with his own hell today.

I noticed many more bike rental companies crop up in the past year. This season will be challenging, to say the least. Constant vigilance!!
 

beachyteachy

Beach Fanatic
Apr 4, 2005
330
30
50
My child goes to school at Seaside and I am so afraid that I am going to hit someone one day. Just the other day I was veeeeeeerrrrry cautiously turning onto 30a and these two grown men darted out from the side of a large SUV without hesitating or looking. I had to slam on breaks and the dude threw his hands up at ME! Just because you step foot in a crosswalk does not render you invinsible. This was after I had followed a group of teenage girls riding RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD and being quite wobbly on their bikes. It seems like some of these people think that the second they check in, they obtain an invisible force field around them.
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
How sad! :sosad:

I don't understand HOW this is not a daily occurrence with the typical behavior of drivers, pedestrians, and bikers on 30-A.

I go through Seaside on idle and LOOKING for people and still have problems - like the group of idiots walking down 30-A in the dark like it was a sidewalk instead of a road!
 
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