Broward Injury Lawyer Blog

State Road A1A is a tough road to travel down with everyone driving around thinking it’s their own. It’s a scenic route through both Broward and Palm Beach counties. Llined with swanky restaurants, public beaches, tall condominium towers and sprawling mansions, it’s a hot spot for pedestrians, joggers, bicyclists and tourists. Unfortunately, this beautiful area is a common place for pedestrian and bicycle accidents in Broward County.

Fort Lauderdale accident lawyers understand that police agencies in the area are trying to make A1A a little safer for everyone and they’re reaching out for help. There was a meeting that was recently held among nonprofit groups, government transportation agencies and law enforcement officials to just to determine ways to calm travelers in this roadway and help to prevent some of the accidents. Bicycle clubs will be invited to the meetings soon then residents will be called in. According to Lt. Hal Hutchins with the Ocean Ridge police, the goal of these meetings is to enforce safe traveling education from Jacksonville to Miami.

The task force, the Broward-Palm Beach Coastal Community Traffic Coalition, is bringing in reps from the state Department of Transportation, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Boca Raton, Highland Beach and Delray Beach, the Broward Sheriff’s office and nonprofit groups to work on these making our roadways issues.

Right now, the speed limit on that two-lane road is 35 miles per hour. Each city along the roadway has its own safety features and they vary from area to area. Some have a plethora of crosswalks for bicyclists and pedestrians and others even offer limited beach access to residents and visitors. Some have designated bike lanes, other don’t. In the state of Florida, motorists are required to give bicyclists three feet of room between their vehicle and a bike to help prevent accidents. Unfortunately, this is a law that many drivers fail to obey.

With all of these changes along A1A, accidents are a commonality. From just 2006 to 2010, there were more than 300 pedestrians and cyclists who were involved in traffic accidents along this road in just Palm Beach and Broward counties.

This is a number that’s scaring a lot of these travelers as well as law enforcement officials as the number of people biking to work recent increased by nearly 60 percent just from 2000 to 2009.

According to Bret Baronak, coordinator for the Palm Beach County Metropolitan Planning Organization, this roadway brings out more bicyclists than any other roadway in Palm Beach or Broward counties. He is hoping that the task force keeps on going and becomes an important and permanent group that meets regularly to update residents, visitors, motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians on laws regarding all travelers on our roadways.

He says that throwing up signs in the areas is not the answer. Motorists oftentimes disregard signs. He suggests that more education and awareness efforts kickoff this program and help to increase safe along A1A.
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A 9-year-old boy was sent to the hospital with serious injuries to his head after a recent Fort Lauderdale bicycle accident. According to local police, the accident happened just before 4:00 p.m. as the young bicyclist was crossing over Northwest 6th Street. A motorist in an early-80s corvette hit the child as he crossed the street.

According to the Sun Sentinel, the driver of the Corvette remained at the scene of the accident. The 68-year-old driver is not currently facing any citations, pending the outcome of the investigation. The young bicyclist was transported to the Broward General Medical Center. His condition remains unknown.

Our Fort Lauderdale bicycle accident lawyers understand that there’s nothing more terrifying than the serious injury of a young bicyclist involved in an automobile accident. Unfortunately, the state of Florida is the most dangerous state in the country for these kinds of accidents. Our busy roadways and bike-worthy weather creates that recipe for disaster, but we can help with a little awareness and compassion.

According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, more than 900 bicyclists are killed and more than 500,000 are injured each year in bicycling accidents nationwide each year. About three quarters of these accidents happen in urban areas and during the daylight hours. As the school year winds down, more and more school-aged children will be hitting our roadways on two wheels. Motorists are asked to keep a look out because every year, nearly 200 kids are killed and another 17,000 are injured in these kinds of accidents.

Fort Lauderdale not only sits in the most dangerous state for bicycle accidents, but it also ranks as one of the deadliest metro areas as well!

It’s important to help keep our kids safe on our roadways and one of the most beneficial ways to do that is to make sure our young cyclists are wearing the right safety helmets. As a matter of fact, a properly-fitting bike helmet can reduce the risks of injuries to the head by nearly 90 percent. In the state of Florida, riders who are under the age of 16 are required to wear a helmet while riding a bike or acting as a passenger on a bike.

Safe Bicycling Tips, from the Broward Sheriff’s Office:

-Always wear a helmet that meets one of the helmet standards, including ANSI, Snell or ASTM.

-Be sure that the helmet fits properly. It should be level on the head and should not tilt back or sit over the forehead.

-Check out your bike before every ride. Make sure everything’s properly adjusted and in good-working order.

-Wear brightly-colored clothing to help make sure that drivers can see you.

-Make sure your bike has reflectors on it to make you more easily seen by motorists.

-Ride in safe areas along marked paths whenever you can.

-Ride with the flow of traffic.

-Be on the lookout for pedestrians, vehicles, road debris, potholes, etc.

-Never ride, or allow someone to ride, on the handlebars.

-At least one hand should be on the handlebars at all times.
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A young bicyclist was struck by a chief’s police cruiser in a recent Davie auto accident, just yards away from the city’s police headquarters. According to accident reports, Police Chief Patrick Lynn was driving his unmarked car when he failed to yield the right-of-way of the young cyclist and slammed into him.

The chief was turning right onto Nob Hill Road. The 15-year-old bicyclist was in the crosswalk, heading south, when the collision occurred. Luckily, the young boy was not injured.

The officer was not issued a ticket in the accident, even though accident reports indicate that he was at fault. The officer has failed to comment on the accident, but the department’s captain says that they’re just thankful that no one was hurt.

Our Davie pedestrian accident lawyers understand that the accident will be reviewed by the department’s review board, but there’s no guarantee that anyone will be reprimanded. Usually, a chief would determine disciplinary action against any officer who has been involved in an accident after the case is reviewed by the board. Right now, the officer involved in the accident could face further training or potentially stiffer punishments. While officers, just like any other driver, should be penalized for accidents in which they’re found at fault, it’s often unlikely. When an officer is involved in an accident, it will be their own peers who are reviewing the case. An unbiased conclusion and proposed penalty are often not in the cards.

Although Captain Dale Engle says that they treat their own officers the same, it doesn’t matter if you’re one of the department’s chiefs or if you’re a beginner officer on the street. He says all cases are dealt the same way. He defends the department’s actions by saying that if the accident would have involved a civilian driver, they may not have gotten a ticket either. He says there’s been no special treatment in this case.

The young cyclist’s sister and legal guardian isn’t so sure. She says that she’s upset that the accident reports clearly state that the collision was the fault of the officer and that he wasn’t given a ticket.

This isn’t just a problem we face here in Davie. There have been many of these types of cases elsewhere in Florida and throughout the rest of the country. According to Eugene O’Donnell, a professor with John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, this is a hot topic in the world of law enforcement. There’s a conflict when officers are investigating their own officers. It gets even tougher when the officer involved in the accident is higher up in the department.

Sandy Hardwick, a witness to the accident, wonders why the officer didn’t get a ticket, too. She thinks it’s because he’s a chief. She says that if she was in his shoes, she would have gotten a ticket for sure! The traffic light was red, the young bicycler had the right of way and the officer failed to recognize that.
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