Opinion: We sorely need Sheriff's High Visibility Enforcement Program to ensure safety of bicyclists, walkers in traffic
It's been a long time.
Thankfully.
Taking a trip in the way-back machine, it doesn't seem like it's been nearly 20 years since I got hit by a car while riding my bicycle. But in 2003, there I was, lying in the right lane of traffic on Congress Avenue after getting struck by an SUV.
From my home off Lawrence Road in Boynton Beach, I usually bike a short, 3-mile route in an effort to get my cardio work in. I was riding with traffic but on the sidewalk that sunny day in June when I approached an entrance to a condominium where a driver was waiting to pull into traffic.
I don't even remember getting hit or flying through the air or landing with a thud on Congress Avenue. The next thing I recall, I was lying on the pavement, watching my riderless bike bounce not once, not twice but three times before coming to a stop. A passer-by parked his car in the traffic lane (thank you for not running over me) and came running up to tell me to stay down, that an ambulance was coming. After trying to rise up on my arms, I was too tired to argue with him, so I slumped back to the ground.
My left foot was killing me. I kept telling people that I knew I had broken it as they loaded me into the ambulance. The police took my bicycle and soon I was on my way to JFK.
After multiple scans and X-rays, I found out I was wrong. The foot was not broken, nor was anything else. Just a lot of bumps, bruises, road rash and sore pride.
Thank God.
My wife, who had left work to come to the hospital, helped me limp my way to our car, my aching body finding it difficult to bend down to get into the passenger's seat. Trust me, it hurt. A lot.
I started thinking about this after reading a Palm Beach Post story that the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is launching a program Thursday called the High Visibility Enforcement Program. It will focus on intersections in the central part of the county with additional officers on patrol to teach people about safe driving, biking and walking behavior, as well as increase compliance with traffic laws.
It's something that's definitely needed. Last year, pedestrians and bicyclists were involved in 1,185 collisions in Palm Beach County, an average of between three and four per day, according to the sheriff's office. Of those crashes, 59 involved fatalities and 123 with serious injuries. Makes your heart break.
I don't know how many times I have picked up the paper since 2003 and read that a bicyclist was hurt or killed while riding. A few years ago, my brother-in-law, who rides his bike competitively, broke his hip after getting struck by a car in San Antonio.
I still ride my bike regularly. At 59, I've got to watch out for my heart health, and my back cannot tolerate running on a treadmill. I still ride on the sidewalks — I'm not going near those scary bike lanes with cars nipping at your heels as they whiz on by, no siree Bob — and I make darn sure to watch out for people pulling out of parking lots. (P.S. to the doctors in the JFK ER: My foot still hurts now and then, though that's still better than breaking it.)
But let's be frank: Too many drivers are not paying as much attention to their driving as they should be. We all want to get to where we want to go as soon as possible. But please start taking the extra time to look out for bicyclists, pedestrians and — if I can throw them into the mix — motorcyclists (my middle child rides one, which doesn't sit well with me).
The guy who hit me was accelerating as he tried to pull into traffic. I shudder at the thought of what might have happened if he had hit me while going the speed limit or faster.
So thanks to the sheriff's office for a much-needed program. And please pay attention while driving. Somebody's life could be at stake.
Andrew J. Davis is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at adavis@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Opinion: Sheriff's traffic-safety program brings to mind accident while biking
