From the Miami Herald comes this report of a cyclist struck by a hit/run driver in Key Biscayne, Florida. You can read about it here, or check out the story below…
Let’s Be Careful Out There.
Steve Magas
CYCLIST INJURED IN HIT & RUN – KEY BISCAYNE, FL
A bicyclist was struck and killed by a car in a hit-and-run Sunday morning on the Rickenbacker Causeway near the entrance to Key Biscayne — after which the motorist dragged the crumpled bike four miles down Crandon Boulevard.
As the cyclist fell to the pavement on Bear Cut Bridge, bleeding profusely, the car, a silver Volkswagen Jetta, barely paused, horrified witnesses said.
The car, its windshield smashed by the impact of the cyclist’s body, dragged the bicycle at high speed into the middle of the village of Key Biscayne, where the bike apparently became dislodged.
The motorist, whose name was unavailable, then drove several blocks more on Crandon and turned into Grapetree Drive near the southern end of the island, where Key Biscayne police later seized the car. It could not be determined whether the driver was detained.
Hours after the 8 a.m. incident, the crumpled remains of the blue Cannondale bike lay on the grass in front of the village Winn-Dixie, surrounded by yellow crime-scene tape and guarded by an officer. A few blocks away, the badly damaged Wolfsburg-edition Jetta still sat on Grapetree, also guarded by a patrol car.
A neighbor said the driver lives nearby.
A police spokesman could not be reached Sunday.
After the incident, angry cyclists who tried to assist the victim posted comments on websites, including The Miami Herald’s, complaining that rescue units took about 20 minutes to respond to numerous frantic 911 calls from the scene — even though a Miami-Dade fire station is located a couple of miles away on Crandon Boulevard.
Two cyclists, one a doctor and another a firefighter, tried in vain to help the victim, who lay in a pool of blood in the bicycle lane, one witness told The Herald.
The incident prompted the closure of Bear Cut Bridge’s eastbound lanes for most of the morning. The cyclist was riding towards Key Biscayne in a bike lane when he was struck, witnesses said.
The cyclist was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
© 2024.
