Deadly Accident Turns To Hope For Social Media

A tragic accident occurred on the morning of February 19th in Palmetto Bay, resulting in the death of a bicyclist after being struck by a vehicle. According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the crash took place around 6:40 a.m. near Southwest 160th Street between 81st and 82nd Avenues.

According to the Miami Herald, the cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the car stayed on-site and cooperated with law enforcement. The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Thus ends the news story. But here is where things get interesting…

I reprint the following anonymous post from the Around Palmetto Bay Facebook group to illustrate that, properly used, social media can be thought-provoking and pertinent in our community.

I’ve hesitated to post here because of how horrific the car/bike accident was this past Wednesday. Since Wednesday I am saddened that not much else has been said about the horrible accident that occurred in the heart if our community. My children and I were behind the incident and I called and remained with the victim, driver and on the 911 call for the duration of the horrific incident. I am a Palmetto Bay resident, I drive the route of the accident daily. This was not a black and white accident. It was a tragic event with many, many, many factors— here are my takeaways as a direct witness:

1. It was an accident with many factors. While reports are correct that the bike was in the crosswalk, it was dark and happened in a blink of an eye. The time of day was very hard to see, our village roads aren’t fully lit— we have a lot of vegetation on our roads as well. The crosswalks after the roundabout can be tricky to see especially during times of day with weird lighting— such as daybreak. 

2. The driver stayed and was deeply emotionally hurt by the incident - he was covered in blood, tried to give assistance and it was tragic. It is easy to judge drivers in accidents such as these, I have a new perspective as a witness of a horrific accident with complicated conditions. You can never judge a situation without being in it, an important reminder. 

3. HELMET. If the bicyclist has been wearing a helmet this may have ended differently. The extremely severe head injuries that I witnessed immediately after impact were a result of not wearing a helmet. Helmets save lives, plain and simple. 

4. Response time — 9 minutes. Including 2 minutes where I could hear the sirens but they couldn’t get to us. While a quick response wouldn’t have changed the outcome in this incident it was eye opening and scary to me as a PB resident in this area. 

5. If you’re one of the 4 cars who slowed down enough to see a lifeless man on the ground and didn’t stop — shame on you. I am a mother of 3 and had all 3 children with me and I stopped to help. This was a human, in our community and I’m sad at what I witnessed. After the horrific incident— I left not only sadden for the two lives that were forever changed, the lost life and the driver who was engaged in a life altering accident but deeply disappointed in our community. I understand that morning commutes are stressful and we all have places to be and I’m thankful that a few other Good Samaritans did stop in the final minutes of the horrific ordeal but I witnessed numerous cars— honk, swerve around, reverse quickly etc. 

There are quite a few factors that lead to this horrific accident. I hope that our community leaders are working together to ensure that an accident like this never happens in our village again and that our community works together so that whether they’re driving, walking or biking in our neighborhood you can do so safely.

With so much anger, backlash and politics in our social feeds, I found it particularly encouraging that our local neighbors can sometimes rise up and use social media to create meaningful discourse.

Every comment on the post, of which there were 64 at the time of this writing, was on-point and genuine. Not one nasty comment or political dig entered the thread.

As a concerned and involved local real estate agent, I applaud the original poster for her action at the scene of the accident, but even more so for her thoughtful, reflective words about her aftermath thoughts.

From the depth of tragedy, a social media bright spot was born. May we all embrace each other and our community for a brighter South Florida future.