A 41-year-old Gainesville woman was killed and a 41-year-old Trenton man was seriously injured Monday night when the scooter they were on was rear-ended by a car on US 19 in Levy County.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) release, the Trenton man was driving a scooter north on US 19 in the right lane one mile north of NW 20th Avenue at 10:20 p.m. when a 28-year-old Branford woman driving a sedan approached the vehicle from the rear and struck the scooter.
Levy County Fire Rescue responders pronounced the Gainesville woman riding as a passenger on the scooter dead on scene. The Trenton man driving the scooter was transported to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
The sedan driver did not sustain any injuries and FHP is investigating the incident.
The reason why you should not ride a scooter in traffic. I am against even bicycles riding with traffic. I feel the rider on a bike or even a scooter should go toward traffic so that they can see the vehicle coming towards you. At least then you can move out of way if driver of vehicle heads towards you in bike lane.
I don’t even know why Gainesville puts bike lanes on streets like Archer Road and SW 34th St. I’ve seen two people in those bike lanes in the 10 years I’ve lived here, and one of them was packed up and traveling with a trailer behind him. I had a bike when I first moved here, and even riding it on the sidewalks felt unsafe, so I sold it.