News-Press Sunday 3/8/15 Bike Safety Feature:
Each Southwest Florida bike death is a different,
heartbreaking story
By Janine Zeitlin, Melanie Payne and
Laura Ruane jzeitlin@news-press.com, mpayne@news-press.com,
lruane@news-press.com
 |
| Cyclist Scott Johnsen was killed 9/28/14 |
Scott Johnsen rode in a pack of
hundreds of bicyclists, solemnly pedaling through downtown Fort Myers. May's
warm breezes kept the evening in the 80s. The setting sun cast the royal palms
gold.
Johnsen, 59, kept a steady pace with
the group that joined for the Ride of Silence, an international event to
remember bicyclists who have been killed or injured. The pack was quiet but for
the clicking gears. He thought about a friend who had been killed in Ohio. He
thought about the man's young family. He wore a black arm band in his honor.
Such a senseless loss.
Along the route, he spotted the
mother and father of a cyclist killed when a driver forced her over Sanibel
Causeway. They held a poster-sized photo of their smiling blond daughter. He
couldn't imagine such grief. He had a daughter, two grandkids.
"It's amazing how alone in your
thoughts you can be among so many riders," Johnsen wrote on dailymile, a
site where he described this ride and his daily cycling routines. "I live
in Lee County in SW Florida. We have already had 5 fatalities in 2014. This
madness has to stop!"
Four months later, Jason Stewart,
speeding down Cape Coral's Diplomat Parkway in his blue Corvette, struck and
killed Johnsen. A witness told police the car "screamed" past her at more
than 100 mph. Stewart, 44, was arrested in January for vehicular homicide and
reckless driving.
Johnsen's was another death in the
most lethal state in the nation for bicyclists. Southwest Florida ranks among
the worst in the nation for deaths and crashes. Nine people died in Lee County
in the past year or so, three in Collier. The youngest was 15, the oldest was
80.
Four became criminal cases. Three
more resulted in traffic tickets. The highest fine for a life was $1,600.
Darkness contributed. Some bicyclists
didn't have lights. Five of the 12 riders made fatal mistakes.
Flawed roadways lead to deadly
rides, said Dan Moser, a longtime bike safety advocate with BikeWalkLee.
Southwest Florida roads are still being designed with scant attention to bikers
and walkers, but for high speed and efficiency for cars, he said.
"That's like oil and water when
we have the same spaces for automobiles, bicyclists and pedestrians."
These deaths point to symptoms of
continued carnage, yet each one tells its own story.
Click here to continue reading the in-depth stories of the 12 cyclists killed last year on SWFL roads.
.....the article ends with a call to action...
Take Action
In Florida, a driver could pay the same fine for a mistake that causes a dent in a fender as causing lifelong pain to a biker or walker. Last year, a driver was given a $170 fine in a Naples crash that left a cyclist with more than 20 broken bones.Puny tickets for life-altering injuries to bicyclists was one inspiration behind a bill that has been filed by two Southwest Florida lawmakers, Rep. Kathleen Passidomo and Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen. The safety bill would push fines up to $2,000 in cases where vulnerable road users, such as bicyclists and walkers, are injured. It would also: mandate driver education and testing on the legal rights and safety of vulnerable users, make harassing a cyclist a misdemeanor and make it illegal for a motorist to cut off a vulnerable users, among other things. There's a companion bill in the Senate.
"We've got to find a good way to share the road lawfully and collaboratively, as opposed to antagonistically," Passidomo said.
Related:The birth of a bill to protect cyclists, walkers
If you want to support the bills, contact your local lawmakers.
Get involved, learn more:
• BikeWalkLee: bikewalklee.org or 472-1179
• Naples Pathways Coalition: naplespathways.org or 777-7718.
• The Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition is rolling out a "Drive Wise Lee" campaign to bring down fatal car crashes: leecountyinjuryprevention.org
• Share and learn about ideas to make the roads safer on The News-Press Facebook page, Share the Road Florida
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