Bike safety a priority after teen hit by car suffers skull fracture

The intersection of Tradition and Village Drives in Port St. Lucie is known for being very busy.

This is where a 14-year-old cyclist collided with a car Wednesday evening and had to be rushed to hospital.

Just down the street at Sprockets Adventures, it didn't take long for bike shop owner Louis Patterelli to learn of the accident.

“Our first concern was whether it was one of the kids that was coming into our store and whether there was a large group of them running around here,” Patterelli said.

Police said that while the incident was under investigation, the driver had a green light at the time of the collision.

“The vehicle was westbound, had a green light and was traveling through the intersection,” Port St. Lucie Police Chief Richard Del Toro said. “The cyclist was using the pedestrian crossing heading north. [It] It seems to us that the right of passage of the driver of the vehicle has been violated.

Police said the 14-year-old was flown to St. Mary's Medical Center after suffering a fractured skull, but the injury was not life-threatening.

His condition is now stable, but police said he was not wearing a helmet.

“I know it's not a cool thing to wear sometimes, but in this case too, there was head trauma, so you know a helmet could have prevented something like that,” Del said Toro.

Patterelli, who suffered head trauma even with a helmet, said: “[the boy is] lucky to be alive.”

Incidents like Wednesday's draw attention to the issue of safety, especially in a field that continues to grow. More and more cyclists and drivers share the road and both need to know the rules.

“Ignorance of the law doesn’t protect you from being hit by a truck,” Patterelli said.

“[There’s] there is a lot of traffic there. This is a very busy intersection. You're talking about a six-lane highway,” Del Toro said. “Just having those conversations with kids, if you're going to ride your bike and you're going to go through those intersections, you just want to do it. safely.”

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