CLEARWATER, Fla. — This week, the Clearwater Police Department concluded a six-month initiative aimed at protecting cyclists and pedestrians at some of the city’s most dangerous sections of roadway.
One of the sections of roadway in focus was Gulf to Bay Blvd., where Will Townsend rides his bike on a daily basis. He said he’s had way too many close calls with cars.
“They are always in a hurry, sometimes they aren’t watching, just like this driver way over here, the lady wasn’t watching me, she was looking to the left the whole time, and I slowly went across but she still didn’t see me, and I just got across before she started going, and she was shocked to see me there,” said Townsend.
It’s these types of incidents that have put Gulf to Bay on the police radar, literally, increasing patrols over the past six months at eight of their most dangerous sections of roadway when it comes to serious accidents and fatalities involving pedestrians and cyclists.
“It really comes down to that presence of safety in your mind when you’re operating those vehicles or as a pedestrian looking both ways before you cross the street,” said Sgt. Daniel Negersmith. “For an example right there behind us there was an e-bike that never stopped at the stop sign, kept going through the intersection, stop at the stop sign.”
The annual safety initiative is a collaboration between the University of North Florida and the Clearwater Police Department. Since October, police have spoken with 876 people and issued 233 citations.
“It’s basically saving lives, that’s the key thing that we are concentrating on, is the idea that we are reducing the fatalities on the city of Clearwater’s roads. In 2024, we had 16 fatalities, last year we had eight,” said Negersmith.
Pedestrians and cyclists said they are in favor of an increase in police presence if it leads to a decrease in trips to the emergency room.
“I almost got hit right at that intersection at Dunken because they don’t look when they turn, they just blatantly go,” said one cyclist. “They’ll probably be a lot safer because tickets are a lot of money, I think it will give them some consequences to slow down on these roads.”
However, according to pizza delivery driver Jebediah Ayers, pedestrians and cyclists are just as responsible; we all have to share the road.
“I think they have to pay more attention to the laws that cars have to follow because I see them go in and out of the street all the time, it’s not an inconvenience, it’s not just my safety, it’s yours too,” said Ayers.
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