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Pedestrians and bicyclists struck by vehicles in separate crashes in Leon County
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Pedestrians and bicyclists struck by vehicles in separate crashes in Leon County

A pedestrian and a cyclist were seriously injured in separate crashes involving vehicles on the outskirts of Leon County this weekend.

The first incident occurred around 9:20 p.m. Friday near West Tennessee and Poplar Avenue, where a 52-year-old driver from Midway struck a 26-year-old pedestrian.

The vehicle was traveling eastbound on West Tennessee Avenue in the inland area at the same time a pedestrian was walking eastbound in the lane for “unknown reasons.”

“The driver … observed the pedestrian and swerved to avoid the pedestrian, but was unable to completely avoid the pedestrian,” the Florida Highway Patrol wrote in a news release. “The front right side mirror hit the pedestrian.”

The seriously injured pedestrian was taken to hospital by ambulance. FHP noted that they were unable to identify the pedestrian.

The second incident occurred around 8:10 p.m. Saturday on State Road 20, east of Presidentes Cross Road in eastern Leon County, near St. An 82-year-old from Petersburg hit a 72-year-old cyclist from Madison.

According to FHP, the bicycle was crossing the lanes of State Route 20 while traveling northbound and entered the travel lanes, directly into the path of an SUV traveling east on SR 20.

Investigators wrote that the SUV swerved to avoid the cyclist but was unable to avoid a collision and struck the bike’s rear tire.

“The cyclist was thrown … and came to final rest near the crash site,” FHP wrote, adding that he was transported to the hospital via emergency room.

The weekend crashes come at a time when investigations into pedestrian and cyclist crashes and road safety have intensified following the killing of a Florida State University student from Germany. While biking in Tallahassee last month.

So far this year, there have been 55 crashes involving bicycles and 164 crashes involving pedestrians in Leon County. According to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Accident Control Panel. Of those crashes, two were fatal bicycle crashes and nine were fatal pedestrian crashes, according to the dashboard and the Tallahassee Democrat’s count.