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Biking blind spot danger along Pinellas County trails to be fixed

Posted at 5:07 PM, Feb 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-28 02:17:45-05

Trees, fences, utility poles, hedges... all blind spots creating dangerous issues for bikers using Pinellas County Trails.

Monday, the bicycle pedestrian safety committee met to discuss ways to find these blind spots

and fix them immediately before someone else gets hurt. 

A driver recently smashed into Whit Blanton, the executive director of “Forward Pinellas” as he was biking to work. Both he and the driver couldn’t see each other because of a huge hedge and fence in the driveway of the Phillies spring training stadium on Old Coachman Rd in Clearwater.

Luckily, Blanton wasn't seriously hurt in the crash, but it opened up the cyclists eyes to the
blind spots

along Pinellas County trails. Pinellas County is desperate to fix the issues and fast.

Last year, there were 582 bike crashes in Pinellas County and 2 bicyclists died. Statewide between 6,000 and 7,000 bikers get hit a year, and it’s a number that’s sadly increasing every year.

Pinellas County wants you to act as their eyes and ears to look for these dangers and report them.

You can contact Forward Pinellas at (727) 464-8250.

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