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Making Cycling Safer, Florida-Style

- April 8, 2009

Cycling is a dangerous activity, especially if you ride on the road, dodging potholes and seemingly being invisible to drivers who believe that the road is there for them alone. Some localities are notoriously lax at prosecuting drivers who endanger cyclists, or promote bikers’ safety only grudgingly; they would prefer that we just go away and leave the roads open for cars to proceed well above posted speed limits. Examples of this mentality are easy to find — ask any biker — but an especially good one comes from the state of Florida, where signs are posted every so often telling bikers things they already know about avoiding cars and not saying anything to drivers about how to avoid running over bikers. Here’s an example of Florida’s bike-friendly signage:

Image.20090328182811.35B693B3@resin11.mta.everyone.net.jpg

If the drivers don’t get you, the gators will. I think I’ll scratch Florida off my list of preferred cycling spots.

[Hat tip to Marc Stern]

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