KeyLime

This just happened last night in SW Miami-Dade county FL..

here is link, but I posted story below too: https://www.miamiherald.com/top_stori...ry/218587.html


Collision with car injures 11 bicyclists
A pack of bicyclists collided with a car in Kendale Lakes, seriously injuring two riders and hurting nine others.
Posted on Wed, Aug. 29, 2007
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BY EVAN S. BENN
ebenn@MiamiHerald.com

Bicyclists riding at least 30 mph were unable to avoid a vehicle that pulled into their path Tuesday evening on a Kendale Lakes roadway, leaving two riders critically injured and hurting several others.

''The impact created a real domino effect,'' said Miami-Dade fire-rescue Lt. Shanti Hall. ``The front of the pack is what hit the car, and then everyone behind them piled on top.''

Rescuers set up a triage area on Kendale Lakes Circle, a looping trail along the Miccosukee Golf and Country Club, to assess the multiple casualties. Besides the two bicyclists who were flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, five others were taken to area hospitals and four were treated at the scene, Hall said.

Ramon Joa avoided serious injury, but said it was ''devastating'' to watch his fellow riders get mangled in the crash. He said there were about 40 riders in the group.

''There were cyclists flying all over, the glass of the car flying all over,'' Joa told Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS4. ``One of the riders, his hand was pinned underneath the tire of the car.''

The bicycle group rides along the four-mile Kendale Lakes Circle loop about five nights a week, according to neighborhood residents and some of the bicyclists. They use the course for race training, often hitting speeds of 30 to 35 mph.

''They usually get together around 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon, and they ride hard,'' said Miami attorney Lee Marks, a bike enthusiast who has been on rides with the Kendale Lakes group. ``We're talking high-intensity training.''

The pack was riding west on Southwest 62nd Street -- Kendale Lakes Circle -- when a driver pulled out of an apartment-complex driveway onto the roadway about 5:30 p.m., said Miami-Dade police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.

The driver failed to yield the right of way to the bicyclists, causing them to slam into the small sport utility vehicle, Zabaleta said. Traffic homicide detectives are investigating the incident and had not filed any citations or charges Tuesday. The driver's name was not released.

Neighborhood residents said it's possible the driver's view of the roadway was obstructed by a row of cars parked in the street's bike lane. The cars have been parked there during renovations to the apartment complex's parking lot.

The two most seriously injured cyclists were in critical but stable condition late Tuesday, Zabaleta said.

Beker Esteban, who lives across the street from the site of the crash, said he sees the bicyclists riding their thin-wheeled racing bikes and wearing bright-colored jerseys almost every day.

''I've been here since '95, and back then they used to come in groups of 10, 15 people,'' Esteban said. ``But now it's dozens of them, and they fly through the streets.

''This is not a safe place to ride a bike at high speeds,'' he added. ``It makes it dangerous for everybody.''

Bicycle groups -- both recreational and racing -- organize rides in various parts of Miami-Dade County. Many ride at off-peak driving times so the roads are less busy. At least two cities, Coral Gables and Miami Beach, offer police-escorted bike rides once a month.

Cyclists ride together for safety, Marks said.

''Drivers typically pay more attention if you're riding in a group,'' Marks said. ``They slow down and pass safely. If you're riding alone, cars just overtake you and zoom past.''

Florida passed a law last year that makes it illegal for drivers to pass bicyclists with less than three feet of space between them. A push for the law came after cyclist Omar Otaola was struck and killed by a truck in Key Biscayne in February 2006.

The past two years, members of the Everglades Bike Club helped organize a Ride of Silence in Miami-Dade to urge improved safety for riders, and Coral Gables has hosted a number of town-hall meetings in recent years to educate riders and motorists about sharing the roads.

A fatal crash involving a bicyclist happened in May 2002 in the same neighborhood as Tuesday's incident. Miami firefighter Jose A. Menendez Jr., a father of three, was killed when he was riding his bike along Kendale Lakes Drive and crashed into a parked landscaping truck. That road loops around the outside of the golf course, while the site of Tuesday's crash was on an interior road.

What

Want to know what (many) people are like in Miami? Just read through the comments at the bottom of the article.

Ugh.

islandboy

The vocal few. I always try to keep in mind that i have been passed by thousands of cars without trouble by the time an ignorant driver causes me greif.

Wishing the riders a healthy recovery.

lfv

This is a tragedy, but from what it sounds like that is an inappropriate place for a group of riders going 30+ mph. Sure, we have the right to do that, but we also have the responsibility to ride in a reasonable manner for our surroundings. It's not unreasonable to expect people to take reasonable precautions for their own safety.

Helmet Head

Is THIS the location?

EDIT: Never mind, it's probably around HERE.

Helmet Head

If this street really has a bike lane, then it's likely the cyclists were drawn to ride in it or near it - too far to the right - especially given their speed and the absence of other fast traffic. The driver may have looked left and really didn't see them due to the obstructing parked cars if the cyclists were riding too far to their right, which almost all cyclists do.

bike monkey

Give it up helmet head. You don't have to analyze every incident to "prove" that vc is better. Just ride your bike and let others do the same.

Ajenkins

Let's quit trying to blame the victims here, ok? Idiot driver doesn't look where he's going, lazy motorists blocking the lanes...I hope the driver gets sued heartily and in depth.

The comment --by a bicyclist on this board, no less -- that the bicyclists were going to fast is absurd, unless, of course, the speed limit is lower than the speed of the cyclists.

evblazer

With a line of cars blocking the view I don't think even riding on the yellow line at that kind of speed would make them more obvious. Now riding on the yellow or close to it if there wasn't oncoming traffic could have helped avoid the accident for the bikes. Really though bikes should be quick enough and the lead rider aware enough to see that car and swerve the group unless the car drove over the front few and the rest hit the side but it sounded more like they all hit the side.

San Rensho 

I can guarantee you these guys were not riding to the right. This ride is a ride/training race, its a huge peleton that takes up the entire lane or lanes, which is what most drivers complain about here in Miami.

Chaco

Part of the problem, at least from what I read, is that there was some construction going on in an apartment building that pushed more cars out into the street. Thus conditions had changed both for the motorist and for the cyclists.

Now that I cycle more than I drive, it seems that whenever there's construction, cycling safety is rarely, if ever, taken into account. For example, I see big diamond "road work" warning signs routinely plunked smack dab in the middle of bike lanes on busy thoroughfares, with nary a thought given to the fact that the sign itself will push cyclists into the middle of fast traffic with little or no warning.

On top of that, it will be a long, long time until we're dealing with a population that's not addicted to driving around in their SUV's, even if it's to go 500 feet to the convenience store down the block.

San Rensho 

The only redeaming factor in this whole tragedy has been the local media's coverage. I watched most of the local stations coverage last night and almost every station made a prominent announcement during their coverage that bicyclists have the right to ride in the road, have the right to take the lane and that motorists must give them 3 feet when they pass them.

Not that it will make any difference because drivers here want to kill cyclists.

What

I'm interested as to whether or not the parked cars obstructed the motorist's view. The fact they were illegally parked there in the first place could have set this whole thing up.

As mentioned in the article, the group is out there 5 nights a week. I would seriously doubt they would train there that hard and often if the area was a disaster waiting to happen.

In my opinion, however, the cyclists must bear some of the responsibility. A pack of 40 (I would assume mostly non-pro) riders pushing 30+ is crash-prone all on its own. They should have recognized a situation like this and planned accordingly, especially if they know the area well. Again, this is based on the assumption that the motorist's view was at least partially blocked by parked cars that should not have been there.

-=(8)=-

I find it hilarious but in a sad way the article made sure they included a
totally irrelevent and negative opinion of one of the residents who
live on that street. Why not a policeman to explain ROW or something
of this nature ?? I feel 99.9% sure in saying most of the cars in that area
are going more than 35 mph.

Helmet Head

VC???

As long as the vast majority of cyclists continues to ride too far right when faster same direction traffic is not present, I'm going to continue to point out that it's not as safe or as reasonable as they seem to think it is.

Helmet Head

If they were in the bike lane or riding nearly adjacent to parked cars, then, yes, they were riding too fast. In urban/suburban environments with hidden alleys and driveways like that, going any faster than 15 mph in the bike lane or near it is too fast. You need to be out in the traffic lane where the sight lines are much better and you are more conspicuous.

San Rensho 

The interview supports the position I've always taken that many drivers just hate cyclists, period. You will never convince them otherwise. They have their minds made up and they will always find some way to blame the cyclist.

If you listen closely to all of their arguments, it all comes down to one thing, cyclists get off the road. They know that isn't the law, but they will go to any extreme to blame the cyclist.

San Rensho 

Are you going to accept the reported facts, or are you going to go on one of your very pridictable "BUT IF THEY WERE...." diatribes.

They were not riding in the bike lane, every single article says the bike lane was full of parked cars and was claimed by the driver to be the reason he did not see the peleton.

This ride is a fast ride/training race, with around 40 riders, they were taking up the whole road, not all over to the right hugging the parked cars.

Would you argue the facts as given and not the facts that you imagine.

bike monkey

Originally Posted by Helmet Head If they were in the bike lane or riding nearly adjacent to parked cars, then, yes, they were riding too fast. In urban/suburban environments with hidden alleys and driveways like that, going any faster than 15 mph in the bike lane or near it is too fast. You need to be out in the traffic lane where the sight lines are much better and you are more conspicuous.


Have you not been reading any of this? Do you just spout crap out of your mouth for the sake of arguing? They weren't in the bike lane. It was a pack of riders.

Go stir ***** up at the VC board where you belong...

San Rensho 

Because they were in a bike lane and its illegal to park in a bike lane.

What

Taken straight off a State of Florida site that seems to explain ped/bike-related statutes:



Not to stand or park a vehicle in a bicycle lane
(Section 316.1945(1)(b)6, F.S.)

Except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic, or in compliance with law or the directions of a police officer or official traffic control device, no person shall stand or park a vehicle, whether occupied or not, in a bicycle lane, except momentarily to pick up or discharge a passenger or passengers.



And straight from the article:



"Neighborhood residents said it's possible the driver's view of the roadway was obstructed by a row of cars parked in the street's bike lane. The cars have been parked there during renovations to the apartment complex's parking lot."



If the were parked in the bike lane, they were there illegally.

banerjek

Interesting quote. You'd think it would be unsafe to drive at such speeds if riding a bike at those speeds is unsafe for everyone (a class that includes drivers).

Having said that, I'd never be in a high speed peloton on city streets. When I'm in town even by myself, I have to cut my pace because of the constant idiotic things that people do. In a peloton, you have much less ability to react.

I-Like-To-Bike

Never has; why start now?

San Rensho 

Great photo, wher'ed you get it?

timmhaan

it looks like a scale model or something.