Janine Zeitlin, Melanie Payne and Laura Ruane jzeitlin@news-press.com, mpayne@news-press.com, lruane@news-press.com
Each Southwest Florida bike death is a different, heartbreaking story...this is Todd Snyder's story.
Todd Snyder, 45
Crash date: Nov. 7, 2014
Todd Snyder had been a cowboy in
California. Ranching was a fitting job for a man who preferred to be outdoors.
He was a mechanic by trade. When work dried up, he returned to live with his
mother, Barbara Snyder, in Lehigh Acres. On a Friday, Snyder rode his sister's
old bike to a high school football game. Lehigh was playing Riverdale, his Alma
mater.
 |
| Todd Snyder loved to fish and be
outdoors. He was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bicycle at night last
year. (Photo: photo provided by family of Todd Snyder) |
Early the next morning, Barbara's
phone rang. She worried. The phone doesn't ring at 3:30 a.m. with good news.
She was an emergency contact, the person on the line said, but didn't say for
whom.
Ten minutes later, her body
trembling and dressed in a robe, she opened the door to a stranger.
"Do you know Charles Todd
Snyder?"
"Yes," she said.
"He's my son."
"We're sorry to inform you he's
been killed in a traffic accident."
Snyder was hit Nov. 7 around 11:10
p.m. along Sunshine Boulevard in Lehigh Acres. He didn't have lights on his
bike, but his mother doesn't know if that would have made a difference because
of the speed people drive there. She'd like more drivers to watch for bikes,
and more bicyclists to use lights, which are legally required at night.
A week after his death, his family,
including his 17- and 20-year-old sons, placed a white memorial ghost bike
where he was killed. He also had a sister and three brothers.
Florida Highway Patrol is still
searching for the driver. The vehicle was described as a red, mid-to-late 1990s
General Motors car, maybe a Camaro, with white stripes. Troopers think the car
may have specialty rims, tinted windows and frequents Lehigh Acres.
No comments:
Post a Comment
BikeWalkLee is not responsible for the validity of any comment posted at this site and has the right to remove any comment at any time.