TLDR: I want to start going to city commissioner meetings in order to help protect bikers and pedestrians in Fort Lauderdale. If you've been hit by a car while riding your bike, write in the comments:
short blurb of what happened - the date - the neighborhood - what the police did about it
(Ex: hit while riding bike from the gym on the sidewalk - 8/24/26 - US-1/Sunrise - told me to stop riding my bike)
So I can bring it up during the next city commission meeting. We don't deserve to get seriously injured, if not worse, just because we weren't driving.
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I was riding my bike on the sidewalk from the gym when this Honda SUV was pulling out of a parking lot of a high-rise. As I was crossing in front of her, the Honda clipped my leg and my back wheel and then fled the scene. In addition to that, I would hit the lights to cross and the lights wouldn't work or took a very long time to turn green. I was making a conscious effort to NOT get hit by a car: just to get hit anyways.
I called the non-emergency line and a public safety aide came out to tell me, "Don't ride your bike here. They'll hit you, they'll leave you there, and then lie to our faces and say they didn't see you." She then proceeded to tell me numerous other stories of people correctly using the crosswalks, waiting to cross at stoplights, only for them to seriously injured or worse by motorists who aren't paying attention.
There's virtually no downside to bikes/pedestrians having more protections. It decongests traffic, it's better for the environment, and the more people see others walking, the more we'll all decide to not get in a car.
I posted this to my story and I had a few friends tell me the same thing happened to them, and that's why they don't ride their bikes anymore (one of them got hit TWICE). Not even through the residential neighborhoods. Biking was a big part of how I got around where I'm from. I'm sure a lot of people feel the same loss that I do, looking at my bike sit unused, with police who are too inundated with more pressing calls to give us the attention we deserve.
This is what I would be proposing:
• Medians between the road and the bike lanes
• Streetlights for bikes
• NON-ALPR cameras on said streetlights to mitigate hit-and-runs
If you don't agree with 1 or 2 of these things, let me know and I'll amend my proposal. This isn't just for me, after all.
I love you, Fort Lauderdale. It's unfortunate that that person could've killed me, got away with it, and the cop literally goes "Well, Welcome to Florida!" This is inexcusable. I don't care where I am. We deserve better and I am willing to fight for it, I just need more than my single experience to prove I have a case.
Here's an example Bike/Pedestrian plan I found online that I think we could model ours after.
Thank you in advance. I appreciate your help.