Sadly, one person dies every 50 minutes caused by a drunk driver in the US. And drunk driving is still a leading cause for people dying while riding bicycles.
With recent hurricanes and other major storms hitting Florida, our roads have suffered more damage than usual. Roads must be maintained by their owners so that they are safe for cyclists.
One of the most common bicycle crashes in Florida is when a cyclist is riding on a sidewalk and is injured by a vehicle exiting a driveway or parking lot. This type of accident is depicted above. I have personally represented dozens of bicyclists and pedestrians hurt in this manner. Most commonly, the driver of the car or truck does not look for traffic on the sidewalk at all. If the driver looks, it is only to their left to see if there is a gap in traffic, which would allow a right turn. The driver fails to check the sidewalk to the right.
Once again, Florida has won the dubious honor as being the state with the worst bicycling fatality rate in the US. I'm sad to say Jacksonville is still the most dangerous large city for cyclists.
About 45 years ago, Wisconsin became the first state to pass a “three feet passing law” for the safety of cyclists. Eventually many other states followed. Now, 36 states have enacted some version of a law mandating a safety cushion for motorists passing cyclists.
Idaho, Delaware, and most recently, Colorado, have adopted laws which authorize cyclists to make a rolling stop, or a stop and yield at intersections. Idaho was the first state to adopt its controversial law in 1982. Due to Idaho's early vision and the uniqueness of its law, now all such bike yield laws are typically referred to as “Idaho stop” laws.
There is finally a small sliver of good news when it comes to Florida’s nation-leading bicycle fatality and injury rate. Annual fatality and injury numbers have come down slightly. Unfortunately hundreds are still dying in the State of Florida.