Another bicyclist almost killed
 

A bicyclist was hit by a car this AM. He had done nothing wrong and could have been killed because someone was probably in a little hurray.
I am appealing to the selfish side of the hurray up people to think about how long they may be delayed if they have to stay at an accident to finish the police interview and wait for the medical transport to leave. Not to mention how they might feel after killing someone's grandma or grandpa.
Roundabouts - 20 MPH before you enter
Most streets - 30 Mph or LESS! (Yes 30 MPH is very slow)

Deep breaths please, Tzangrilli, the tone of your posts sounds as if you think all of us are careless and don't care.

What happened and where and how could this accident been avoided?

More facts. I understand your being upset...but help us here. We are mostly careful and caring people.

A perceived tone of the OP's statement does not apply to ALL OF US; only if you're a "hurry up" and selfish person.

As you state...most of us are careful and caring people but we do have speed limits for a reason. This is the consequence when people are careless and speeding.

The exact reason I don't ride my bikes on or near the main roads in the Villages.

After re-reading his post, you are right.

But what happened?

This morning around 9:00 there was a tremendous backup on Buena Vista that look like it extended past the next roundabout heading north. I was coming from LSL on Stillwater. I guess the accident caused the backup.

John

Dangerous roadways
 

Personally, I would like to see bicyclists ride on the golf cart path. I think it would be much safer. When I see cyclists on the main roads/in the round abouts I think of how dangerous it is for them. They aren't a motor vehicle but some of them act like they are and I find it sometimes problematic to navigate around them, especially when the roads are so busy. I would much rather encounter a biker or a pack of bickers on the golf cart path when I'm going much slower.

Actually--I believe virtually every residential street in The Villages has a 20MPH limit ( other than Morse and Buena Vista ). Next time you drive down your own residential street make it a point to go no faster than 20MPH. You wll find that is plenty fast enough in a residential area--and you will fnd that MANY of your neighbors are exceedng the limit. What we need to do is to bring this subject up at our monthly neighborhood meetings!

Nope. Actually streets with cart/bicycle paths separate from the roadway (Morse south of 466, Buena Vista, parts of Stillwater) are 35mph. Streets with dedicated cart/bicycle paths on the roadway are 30mph. Neighborhood streets are 20 or less.

I agree bikes on the cartpath.

As a solo biker I ride on the road but on the side and signal my moves. When I first started I tried the GC trails holy crap those early morning GC drives did everything but crash me, I got cussed at ,flipped off, dam near hit twice that was it for me. I watch my mirror on the roadway, have front and rear lights as well as bright tops or my vest and helmet on at all times. The roadway is a lot safer. As for those that ride in groups they should read the bike rules because they certainly don't abide by the rules

Doesn't surprise me !!!
 

I ride a Honda Goldwing Motorcycle which is a BIG lunker of a touring motorcycle, if you didn't know and it scares me to death to ride into, around or leave our community. I've ridden all over the United States and have never experienced drivers as I have experienced here in this community. I've had drivers look right at me then pull out in front of me, try to change lanes into me or merge into my lane and golfcarts attempt to make u-turns not more than fifteen feet in front of me... :22yikes:

So that is why I say "This doesn't surprise me".....

Like has been said.... "SLOW DOWN, THINK" because you are NOT the only driver on the road and besides what "you" may think "YOU DO NOT OWN THE ROAD."


(Flame suit installed)

I consider this to be a very sensible suggestion.

Certainly, it is not a cure-all, but if someone has to overtake you in order to go faster then he/she may well be happy to remain at your speed instead.

And if we can slow down the average speed of traffic in our residential areas (without being silly about it) then the roads will be safer for everyone.

Speaking of bicyclists...MOST seem to know the rules of the road which I appreciate.

That being said...yesterday afternoon around 3, on Odell there were 2 women who were riding together. One was in the diamond trail while her companion seemed to want to ride tandom (along side of her) but was trying to stay on the outside white line---BUT would weave! I think they were chatting so she didn't have complete control of her bike. We were in our golf-cart and trailed them until we could pass them. It seemed as if she had a death wish!!! Just think if a car-driver whose depth perception isn't what it once was could have collided with her.

About 4:00 this afternoon I was in my cart at a stop sign waiting to cross St. Charles westbound. Two bicyclist were headed north on St. Charles and moved from the cart lane to the car lane to make a westbound left turn at my intersection. The bicyclist looked to be a father in his 30's and a son about age 10 on a bicycle that was way too big for him. They stopped for oncoming southbound traffic, well at least the father stopped. The son appeared to not want to stop and put his feet down, maybe because the bike was way too big. Instead the boy veered to his right back into the golf cart lane where a northbound EZGO cart going about 20mph had to make a drastic move over the curb and up onto the sidewalk. Fortunately no one was on the sidewalk, the boy startled by the cart suddenly swerved back toward the center of the street crossing the yellow line causing a southbound SUV to slam on his brakes.

The father sitting on his bike still in the middle of the road, tried to grab his kid twice as he rode by and I sitting in my cart about 30' away as a helpless bystander, yelled out 'Stop'. The boy finally realized all was not well as his father grabbed the handlebars of his bike. Just another day at the intersection of Tamarind Grove Blvd and St. Charles, the site of numerous accidents and a fatality in June 2011.


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Wonder what the exact circumstances were? Does anyone know that the cyclist did, or didn't, do something wrong? Let's not jump to conclusions without facts. I've already seen comments regarding where and how cyclists should ride in TV, or how bad our motor vehicle drivers are. Regardless of how fervently held those beliefs may be, they don't add to the understanding of this particular case.

Unfortunately, we will not likely ever know the details of the case, unless one or more TOTV members actually witnessed the event.