Last week, as I sat in my car at a red light around dusk, I saw two teens crossing in a crosswalk with the right of way across a big 6 lane road (Main Street, Dunedin).
One teen was walking and the other was on her bicycle. As you know, all bicyclists are supposed to walk their bicycles across the street, and now I know why.
While I had the red light, the cross street had a green light. However, even though there’s a green light to complete a turn, drivers must still yield to crosswalks. This driver did not.
I saw him dart across westbound lanes at high rate of speed to turn eastbound…..exactly where these two teens were. He didn’t see them, and they didn’t see him until it was almost too late.
The teen who was on foot saw the car seconds before impact. She jumped backwards about 5 feet when the adrenalin kicked in. She escaped impact and injury.
The other teen, sitting on her bicycle was a sitting duck. She had nowhere to go and I can just imagine the momentary panic seeing a car come straight for her while she is seated on a clunky bicycle.
The car hit her, she ended up on his car hood and then down on the ground. The teen never lost consciousness, but I’m pretty sure her leg was broken. Lying in lanes of traffic she immediately tried to get up, but collapsed back to the ground. Both girls burst into tears as the at-fault driver tried to console them.
I’m sure the teen will ultimately be fine – she may have a cast which all her friends at school can sign, but there is a lesson here. Walk Your Bike Across Intersections!
Image credit: bialasiewicz / 123RF Stock Photo