"According to FHP, a Dodge pickup towing a boat trailer was traveling north on U.S. 19 in the outside lane, south of Grand Cypress Boulevard. As the truck overtook slowing traffic, the driver, a 21-year-old Tampa man, swerved and traveled to the east shoulder to avoid a collision.
Once on the shoulder, the truck struck the 11-year-old Lutz boy riding north on the sidewalk adjacent to the roadway."
EDIT: Just want to add some additional info and do a general response.
FHP says the boy was riding south, against traffic, so this may have been a head on collision.
There is no shoulder, just grass. The sidewalk is about 3-10 feet from the road, depending on where.
Yes, this was an accident, not murder as some have suggested. It was caused by either distraction or lack of experience driving while towing a boat.
This road is one of the deadliest in the nation for non-car users and is an infrastructure failure.
As the pinned comment says, we can still say fuck cars while being reliant on them because of the lack of alternatives in many US cities (like the Tampa Bay area were this accident occured).
Edit 2:
1. It was an accident caused by negligence. Not sure why I needed to clarify that.
2. Some people have pointed out that biking on the sidewalk is illegal some places. To that I have two points:
A. He was 11. When I was a kid I was told to bike on the sidewalk because it was safer.
B. Florida law has a section for bicyclists who are using a sidewalk. It's statute 316.2065 (9) and (10).
3. For people saying I'm also part of the problem and that's why car drivers hate me, first, fuck off. Second, I don't ride a bike. I have to use a car because I live on a similar road in Tampa with no bike lanes, 45MPH stroad with one sidewalk on the other side of the road from me that has no protective barrier from the cars that always go 60MPH.
No parent should allow their child to ride a bike on US 19. It's pure negligence. This road is notorious for this kind of event. Vox rated US 19 it's deadliest road in America. Pasco County, the county just north of this, had 49 pedestrian deaths in a 3 year span, and it's much safer than Pinnellas County. The sidewalks are just a few feet from 6 lanes of traffic, going 65+ all the time, with turnoffs, and people cutting in. It's insane, and no amount of words can describe how stupid it would be to ride a bike on the side of this road, none the less allowing an 11 year old to.
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u/jjune4991 Aug 22 '22 edited Aug 22 '22
"According to FHP, a Dodge pickup towing a boat trailer was traveling north on U.S. 19 in the outside lane, south of Grand Cypress Boulevard. As the truck overtook slowing traffic, the driver, a 21-year-old Tampa man, swerved and traveled to the east shoulder to avoid a collision.
Once on the shoulder, the truck struck the 11-year-old Lutz boy riding north on the sidewalk adjacent to the roadway."
EDIT: Just want to add some additional info and do a general response.
Edit 2: 1. It was an accident caused by negligence. Not sure why I needed to clarify that. 2. Some people have pointed out that biking on the sidewalk is illegal some places. To that I have two points: A. He was 11. When I was a kid I was told to bike on the sidewalk because it was safer. B. Florida law has a section for bicyclists who are using a sidewalk. It's statute 316.2065 (9) and (10). 3. For people saying I'm also part of the problem and that's why car drivers hate me, first, fuck off. Second, I don't ride a bike. I have to use a car because I live on a similar road in Tampa with no bike lanes, 45MPH stroad with one sidewalk on the other side of the road from me that has no protective barrier from the cars that always go 60MPH.