KarmicPedals

Sadly, further proof of Miami's unfriendliness to cyclists:



From the Miami Herald:

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/brea...ry/655723.html

"Police said it is unclear why the Yellow Cab driver, also eastbound on the causeway, struck the riders from behind. He did not have any passengers onboard at the time."

Eastbound at 8 a.m. = morning sun in his face - which may be one factor aside from gross negligence.

uke

Cycling on a six-lane highway? You'll never find me trying that.

-=(8)=-

From the Palm Beach Post:

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/localne...eshooting.html

The most savage state in the country. Build a wall around Florida, not Mexico.

genec

No doubt the cyclists "swerved."

BTW the article is followed by the usual idiot comments.

-=(8)=-

Now for some good.
I guess it(something good) had to happen eventually :

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/c...n_Car_Ban.html

JoeyBike

Read the Comments!

https://pod01.prospero.com/n/pfx/foru...tag=kr-miamitm

BTW....they said the cyclists were "plowed down" by the taxi. Bad writing. You plow things UP. The cyclists were actually mowed down.

I hate sloppy journalism.

-=(8)=-

I have lived/stayd/visited a lot of places but South Florida is unequivocally
the worst driving I have ever seen. It goes into the realm of criminal negligence.
As I ponder some of the stuff that can be done I really, truly believe the Right-Turn-on-Red
Should be done away with for one thing. It has ceased to even be a brake tapping event.
Here in Waste Palm, drivers really think that the right turn rollers have right-a-way
over left turning, green lighters. Its absolutely insane. To even try to cross Rt. 1 as a
ped can turn into a 10 minute affair. Really. Left turn lanes that require a U-turns into
oncoming traffic get to neighborhoods and stores on the opposite side of the road.
South Florida should be a mandatory study for any urban planner on what not to do.

genec

If it's the only way from A to B... guess you aren't going to B, ever.

uke

Nah. I'll take a motor vehicle, like 99.9% of the other people on the interstate. Somehow they manage to get across without bicycles.

KarmicPedals

There is a causeway -- with much slower traffic -- VERY close to the causeway where the cyclists were hit -- they choose the 6 lane one because it has a couple of high bridges (the other one, the venetian causeway, does not) and because there is some room to the outside of the lanes (the other has very little). That being said - it's also a causeway known for the speed of the cars -- I got caught between two cars that were racing each other one night -- they swerved in and out and around me (and I was probably doing 70) -- then swerved back into each other further up the causeway -- wiping out.

nepg

And for a group ride at 8AM on a Sunday, it shouldn't be a big deal... Cab company is going to **** their pants when they find out the cost to repair/replace those bikes at least triples the cost to fix that PoS Crown Vic.

genec

Not everyone owns a car.

Szczuldo

I feel that a lot of campuses do that. Reading the comments for that article it just reminds me how easy it is to be a tough guy behind a monitor.

If you are going to ride on the street be careful of your choice of streets and on top of that don't give motorists any reason to think that you do not belong on the road and in the middle of the lane. If you ride on the very edge of the road motorists will know you aren't used to riding on the street. If you ride in the right tire track I find motorists give me more room except for the occasional moron who still decides that going into the other lane is too much work for him. The law in most places (if not all) is that cyclists need to be as far to the right as THEY deem safe.

Riding on such a busy road is never a good idea though, but if it has a wide shoulder and they were on it more power to them. Either way the taxi driver is at fault, he rear ended someone going slower than him. If it was another car that he rear ended he would be paying up right away, but since he hit bicycles it's a whole different story...

genec

Like I said... "the cyclists swerved."

uke

But I wasn't talking about what most people did, was I? I made a direct statement that I wouldn't ride on six lane highways on a bicycle, and you turned that into an implication that I would never be able to travel anywhere. That assumption has since been proven to be incorrect.

If you want to discuss why other people ride on the interstate, go right ahead. But I'm referring to what I am and am not willing to do, and for me, there are a long list of alternative means of transportation I am willing to pursue that don't require the use of a bicycle on the interstate. I can drive myself, carpool, rent a car, take the bus, call a cab, and so forth. I will not ride a bicycle under such conditions.

JoeyBike

Mostly true where I ride, but I find cranking 20+ mph gets me more respect than lane position alone. And motorists have a bit more leisure to time their merge into the next lane if I am going faster than 20. So everyone wins.

JoeyBike

Is the roadway in the OP story and interstate highway?

Szczuldo

yeah probably. Maybe they even appeared out of thin air.

as I continue to read some of those comments it makes me wish all online threats were treated as real threats and that the police would track you down by the IP address from which the threat was posted. This would really shine light on all those morons who think they are so tough behind their monitors and if they were posers it might actually save a life.

uke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Causeway It's technically an intrastate waterway.

CommuterRun

That's nothing compared to the civil suit they and the driver should have coming.

JoeyBike

An interstate highway has nothing to do with intrastate waterways. County roads cross intrastate waterways. I was just asking 'cause I imagine it to be illegal in Florida to bike on Interstate Highways. Is the road in question a State Highway?

genec

No, my point is that this is an autocentric society and provisions are not made for those that do not drive, for whatever reason. That issue is what makes us addicted to oil.

I made no assumptions. Just a statement based on your comments and your presence at a BICYCLE forum.

Oh and apparently you are "talking about what most people did," as most drive... for now.

JoeyBike

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Road_A1A_(Florida)

It is a State Road. Perfectly legal to ride a bike upon, unless otherwise restricted and signed accordingly. I am imagining the two "humps" are the attraction for cycling and no doubt Sunday morning cyclists attacking the fake hills is a common occurrence.

I make no claims as to if it is a smart or a safe way to spend a Sunday morning. There are similar roadways in my community that the roadies attack on weekend mornings. I do not care to add that kind of danger to my day but understand the attraction to such things.

uke

The majority of members on this site, from the polls I've seen, own or live with significant others who own motor vehicles. The only subforum where this might not be the case is the CF forum, and even there, I think more people are car-light than car free.

I don't really mind what others do on the highway, but I wouldn't bike under such circumstances.

Check the wiki link.

Kurt Erlenbach

The comments on the Miami Herald article are among the most vicious I have ever seen. Lem in Pa, unfortunately, may be correct in his assessment of south Florida drivers. I can safely say that while it's bad elsewhere in the state, it's not as bad as in S. Florida.